Highland Council secures £5.4m for home retrofit with ECO4 loss on agenda

The Highland Council has secured about £5.4m of external funding for 2026/27 to pay for retrofit and decarbonisation work on homes across the Highlands, the Council announced on 5 November.

The grant funding will support programmes for eligible owner-occupied, private rented and Council-owned homes, the Council said. Members of its Climate Change Committee welcomed the news.

Cllr Kate Willis, Climate Change Committee Chair, said the result "reflects the Council's strong track record in attracting investment to tackle fuel poverty, improve housing quality and reduce carbon emissions."

She added: "we remain committed to securing further funding to improve the energy efficiency of Highland homes, supporting the alleviation of fuel poverty and improving health and wellbeing."

The committee papers

The Council's release does not say which meeting considered the reports. The Council's meetings listing shows the Climate Change Committee met on Wednesday 4 November 2026, with an agenda that included an Energy Efficient Scotland - Area Based Scheme Update and a Net Zero Thematic Group Update on Social Housing and the Housing Revenue Account.

Members were invited to note the outcomes achieved through the Council's 2025/26 Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme. The same agenda asked the committee to note the loss of Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) funding and the impact this will have on domestic retrofit across the region, a point the Council's funding release does not mention.

The Council said that since 2023 it and its delivery contractor have secured more than £28m in external funding, supporting energy efficiency improvements in over 1,500 homes across the Highlands. The release does not name the contractor. In September 2023 the Council announced that Union Technical Services Ltd had been awarded the contract to deliver its 2023/24 EES:ABS programme.

Of the homes improved, the Council said, 48% were Council-owned and 52% owner-occupied or privately rented.

Tenure of homes improved	Share
Council-owned	48%
Owner-occupied or private rented	52%

Funding strands

The Council's private-sector retrofit support is delivered through the Scottish Government-funded Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme (EES:ABS) for homeowners and private renters, according to the Council's energy efficient homes page.

SSE Renewables has provided additional funding supporting the delivery of that programme. In 2023 SSE Renewables provided £1m to the Highland Energy Efficiency programme as additional funding for households in extreme fuel poverty, and the Council has since said that SSE Renewables funding has helped more than 350 households improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

The Council's release also referred to its HRA Capital Plan 2027-2032, which it described as approved, saying it includes £116.151m of investment in existing Council housing stock, about £28m more than the previous five-year programme.

Members noted that an independent evaluation had described the Council's approach to domestic energy efficiency and fuel poverty reduction as "highly effective and innovative", according to the Council.

Awards shortlist

The Council said its D-C project has been shortlisted in the Net Zero in Housing category of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) awards. The project delivered more than 1,000 energy efficiency improvements to Council homes across Highland, the Council said.

The CIH's Scotland Housing Awards 2026 shortlist lists the entry as the D to C Energy Efficiency Project, Highland Council. The same category includes Aberdeenshire Council's Granite Homes Towards Net Zero project. Highland Council is also shortlisted for Housing Team of the Year through its Mid Inverness Housing Management Team.

The CIH said the winners will be announced on Friday 13 November 2026 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Glasgow.