Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund: how to apply

Overview

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund provides grant funding to social housing providers in Scotland to install clean heating and energy efficiency measures across their existing housing stock.

Making Scotland’s homes warmer, cleaner and easier to heat is vital to tackle the twin challenges of reducing emissions and fuel poverty. Funding from the scheme supports social housing providers to install improvements which deliver on these areas.

Funding invitation - Checkpoint 11

Applications for Checkpoint 11 of the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund are now open and will close at 23:59 on 11 May 2026.

All applications and supporting documentation must be submitted before the above date to be considered for this funding Checkpoint. Any applications submitted after this date, or incomplete applications submitted before this date, will not be considered.  

Applicants can request up to a September 2027 completion date for their project, however, the full grant amount must still be claimed within the 2026/27 financial year. To support this, projects can request a 100% intervention rate, but are required to evidence their subsequent spend which shows that this rate is brought back in line with expected intervention rates (e.g. up to 60% for clean heating and 50% for energy efficiency).

Themes

There are two themes:

• Theme 1 – clean heating system for social housing across Scotland.
• Theme 2 – “fabric first” energy efficiency only projects

Read the full details about the themes before you apply.

Who can apply

Applications will be accepted from registered social landlords, local authorities or a consortium of organisations with the lead applicant as the named grantee. The lead applicant must submit the application. Applications are not permitted to be submitted by delivery partners.

Dependent on demand, successful applications from organisations which have not previously received grant support from the scheme will be prioritised.

Where possible, organisations should try to submit one project per organisation only. This can include different measures at different locations and will be subject to the limitations on grant allocation as set out in the guidance note. Where more than one application is submitted, applicants should number these in order of priority with 1 being the highest priority.

Projects will only be considered if they fulfil the mandatory criteria. 

How to apply

• request an application pack from netzerosocialhousing@gov.scot
• only fill in the application form after you have read the accompanying Guidance Note in full
• ensure a senior member of the lead organisation, such as Chief Executive or Director, supports the application by signing and providing their name and position in the application form
• use the application form checklist to ensure you have provided the required documentation
• send your completed application and supporting documentation to netzerosocialhousing@gov.scot by deadline

What you can apply for

For projects under Theme 1 of the Fund - (Clean Heating Systems for Social Housing retrofit across Scotland) the financial support available will be a contribution of up to a maximum of 60% of total Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) costs for clean heating elements only.

For projects under Theme 2 of the Fund (“Fabric First” Energy Efficiency only Projects) the financial support available represents a funding contribution of up to a maximum of 50% of eligible CAPEX costs.

Grant caps are as follows:

• the maximum value of grant available to an organisation is £5 million per project. It is advised that one project per organisation is submitted
• the maximum value of grant available per property is £35,000
• rural and remote rural areas are eligible for an 11% uplift on the per property grant cap
• properties in remote rural areas are eligible for an 22% uplift
• for rural or remote rural areas, the total grant awarded cannot exceed either 50% of 60% (measure dependent) of the costs of the total works

Full detail on cost eligibility categories can be found in the guidance note, which is issued on request by contacting netzerosocialhousing@gov.scot.

Funding is only for the retrofit of existing social housing stock and is not for new build social housing.