Warm Home Prescription®: what happens when people can afford to heat their homes?

Cold and damp housing is estimated to cost the NHS £895 million a year, and across England and Scotland more than 9.6 million households – nearly 1 in 3 – are living in fuel poverty.

Energy Systems Catapult developed Warm Home Prescription® to tackle the link between cold homes and ill health. The service works with NHS and community organisations to identify people most at risk from the cold, then gives them practical support to stay warm, well and winter ready.

This report shares lessons from the latest service, funded by SGN through its Vulnerability and Carbon Monoxide Allowance (VCMA). Between January 2024 and March 2026, 18 health and community organisations referred more than 2,100 households across Scotland and Southern England.

Key findings

• 84% of participants could heat their home to a healthy temperature following support. Temperature data from participating homes backed this up, with 70% keeping their living areas at 18°C or above for at least half the day.
• 80% reported improvements in their physical and mental health.
• 90% of households with young children saw positive changes in their children’s health and wellbeing.
• 1 in 4 reported using emergency GP and hospital services less.
• 27% made energy efficiency improvements to their home, and the service helped unlock up to £500,000 in retrofit funding.
• Integrated delivery models – involving health services, community organisations, and energy advisors – are effective in reaching those most at risk from health-related ill health.

Vulnerable participants told us:

“It helped me when I was scared of putting my heating on in the cold and kept me able to use my oxygen machine.”

“Monthly support allowed us to afford energy this winter without added stress or debt.”

A Family Nurse Supervisor at Family Nurse Partnership Tayside said:

“From our experience, this project has been incredibly easy to implement. It really does what it says it will – no complications, just clear benefits.”

Ninewells Hospital, Respiratory and Infectious Diseases, said:

“Many patients can’t quite believe how easy the process was and how much of a significant difference this will make for them especially over that cold spell.”

A Community Outreach Officer said:

“When you provide individuals struggling over winter with financial support… it means people are open to other support like energy advice and home assessments.”

Dr Rose Chard, Senior Advisor for Fair Futures at Energy Systems Catapult, said:

“A warm home is a health intervention. Offer people home improvements to cut carbon and few respond. Offer them to improve their health and engagement is high. By reaching people through services they already trust and helping with heating costs first, we open the door to retrofit, setting off a chain of improvements to people’s health, homes and bills. As the Warm Homes Plan gets under way, it’s vital we build on these lessons and work with partners across health, energy and local government to make sure the plan reaches those most at risk.”

What’s inside the report?

You’ll discover:

• How the six-step Warm Home Prescription® service works – from health-led referral to energy advice, help with heating costs and access to retrofit schemes.
• How energy costs and limited access to retrofit still stop some households from staying warm, even in homes with good EPC ratings.
• Who the programme reached and how vulnerabilities overlap in participating households.
• The importance of continuing to develop and scale approaches that link health and energy support.