SHDF and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund explained

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund has not disappeared, it has been renamed. From Wave 3 onwards the scheme is called the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and it now sits inside the government's wider Warm Homes Plan. The earlier waves are still completing under the SHDF name. If you are a housing provider planning funded retrofit in 2026, here is how it all fits together and what it means for delivery.

The short answer

SHDF and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund are the same programme at different stages. Waves 1, 2.1 and 2.2 ran and are completing under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund name. Wave 3 was renamed the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and forms part of the Warm Homes Plan. The purpose has not changed: upgrade social homes that sit below EPC band C, cut residents' energy bills and move the sector towards net zero.

The SHDF waves so far

The fund launched in stages, and knowing which wave a programme belongs to still matters for reporting and compliance.

Wave 1 launched in August 2021, awarding around £179m for energy performance improvements to up to 20,000 social homes, delivered across 2022 and 2023.

Wave 2.1 was announced in March 2023, awarding around £778m to 104 projects for delivery from 2023 into 2026. It is the largest wave to complete, with tens of thousands of measures installed and almost all upgraded homes reaching EPC band C or above.

Wave 2.2 followed from April 2024 with around £80m, building on the Wave 2.1 allocations for delivery through 2026.

These waves are winding down through 2026, which is why many live programmes still carry the SHDF label even though the newest funding does not.

What changed at Wave 3

Wave 3 is where the name changed. It is now the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, with an initial £1.29bn confirmed at the 2024 Autumn Budget for the 2025 to 2028 period. The delivery window opened in 2025, with around 138 grant recipients taking part. The scheme covers England, and funds local authorities, combined authorities, registered providers of social housing and registered charities that own social housing.

The rename is not just cosmetic. It signals the fund's move under a single national banner, the Warm Homes Plan, which brings the different home upgrade schemes together under one strategy.

How it fits into the Warm Homes Plan

The Warm Homes Plan is the government's overarching programme to upgrade up to five million homes by 2030, backed by a commitment of around £13.2bn for housing retrofit over that period. The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund is the social housing route within it. For asset and sustainability teams, the practical takeaway is that social housing retrofit funding now has a clearer long-term horizon to plan against, rather than a series of short, uncertain waves.

What it means for housing providers in 2026

Three things matter if you are procuring or mobilising retrofit this year.

Match funding still applies. The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund is grant funding that providers top up, so programmes need to be costed and evidenced accordingly.

The EPC C target is unchanged. The goal remains lifting homes below band C up to at least band C, which makes accurate stock data the starting point for prioritising the right properties. This is where stock EPC assessments earn their place, giving you a consistent baseline across the portfolio before a penny is spent.

The compliance bar has not moved. Funded delivery still runs under PAS 2035, which means a qualified retrofit assessment on every property, a retrofit coordinator accountable for the whole-house strategy and the audit trail, and a post works EPC to evidence the improvement for funders at the end. The scheme name has changed but the documentation funders expect has not.

The part that stays the same whatever it is called

Whether a programme sits under SHDF Wave 2.1 or the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, the delivery model is identical: assess, design, coordinate, install, evidence. Bringing those stages together under one accountable partner keeps compliance managed and evidence flowing without chasing multiple suppliers. That is the core of our PAS 2035 retrofit services, and it does not change with the funding label.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund still running? Yes. Earlier SHDF waves are still completing through 2026, and the programme continues under a new name, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, from Wave 3.

What is the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund? It is the renamed continuation of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund from Wave 3, providing grant funding to upgrade the energy efficiency of social housing in England as part of the Warm Homes Plan.

Is SHDF the same as the Warm Homes Plan? Not quite. The Warm Homes Plan is the government's overall home upgrade strategy. The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, formerly SHDF, is the social housing route within it.

Does the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund require PAS 2035? Yes. Funded social housing retrofit is delivered under PAS 2035 and TrustMark, so a compliant assessment, coordination and evidence trail are required.

Which areas does the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund cover? The fund covers England. Greener Solutions Group delivers retrofit across England, Wales and Scotland.

Planning a funded programme?

If you are mobilising a Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund programme or completing SHDF Wave 2 delivery, we can help you assess, coordinate and evidence it under one accountable contract. Explore our PAS 2035 retrofit services or get in touch to talk it through.