SEAI Grant Statistics Ireland 2026: Values, Applications and Upgrades Delivered

Last updated: August 2026. Human written and fact checked against each named source.

Ireland’s home energy grant system was rebuilt at the start of 2026: the heat pump grant nearly doubled, a windows and doors grant arrived, and applications almost doubled within a quarter. This page gathers the current SEAI grant values and the statistics behind the scheme, applications, homes upgraded, spend and progress against the 2030 target, each figure linked to the SEAI, gov.ie or CSO source it came from. It is written for journalists covering the retrofit programme, homeowners weighing up an upgrade, and anyone in the sector who needs a current, sourced number. It sits alongside our home insulation statistics for Ireland and our Dublin BER statistics.

Key SEAI Grant Statistics at a Glance

• The heat pump grant rose from a maximum of €6,500 to a bundle worth up to €12,500 on 3 February 2026. Source: SEAI heat pump grants
• External wall insulation attracts the largest insulation grant at €8,000 for a detached house. Source: SEAI wall insulation grants
• The new windows and doors grant pays up to €4,000 for windows plus €800 per external door for up to two doors, and drew over 7,000 applications in its first quarter. Sources: SEAI windows and doors grant and SEAI, April 2026
• Overall grant applications were up 96% in the first quarter of 2026 and applications for individual measures were up 186%. Source: SEAI, April 2026
• SEAI processed 29,000 grant applications between January and March 2026. Source: SEAI, April 2026
• 58,600 homes received grant supported energy upgrades in 2025, up from 54,000 in 2024 (an 8.5% increase, calculated). Sources: SEAI, August 2026 and SEAI, January 2025
• Budget 2026 allocated a record €640 million to home energy upgrades, targeting 73,000 upgrades this year. Source: SEAI, April 2026
• 257,000 home energy upgrades have been delivered since 2019 with over €1.7 billion in Government funding. Source: SEAI, April 2026
• 8,100 homes in energy poverty received fully funded upgrades in 2025, backed by more than €230 million. Source: SEAI, August 2026
• Almost 22,000 of the homes upgraded in 2024 reached a B2 rating or better, and each step up the BER scale is worth an average 2.7% at sale. Sources: SEAI, January 2025 and SEAI, August 2026

SEAI Insulation Grant Values in 2026

The fixed insulation grant amounts below are taken from the SEAI’s wall insulation and attic insulation pages as published in August 2026. The home must have been built and occupied before 31 December 2010, and a whole surface solution is required for wall measures.

Two top-ups apply. Homeowners on qualifying welfare payments receive higher cavity wall amounts (€2,300 detached, €1,700 semi-detached, €1,100 mid-terrace, €900 apartment), and first time buyers or qualifying welfare recipients can receive up to €2,500 for attic insulation. Since February 2026 a homeowner who already used a wall insulation grant can apply for a second wall measure, for example upgrading from cavity fill to external insulation to make the home heat pump ready, per the SEAI wall insulation page.

Heat Pump, Solar, Windows and Heating Controls Grants

The heat pump change is the largest in the 2026 overhaul. On 3 February 2026 the maximum support rose from €6,500 to a bundle worth up to €12,500: up to €6,500 for the heat pump system, up to €2,000 for central heating upgrade works such as new radiators, and a €4,000 Renewable Heat Bonus for homeowners replacing an oil, gas, solid fuel or electric storage heating system. Apartments can receive up to €9,500 and air to air systems up to €7,500, with a €200 grant for the technical assessment. The home must have been built and occupied before 2021, per the SEAI heat pump grant page.

Replacement windows and doors must reach a U-value of 1.4 W/m²K or lower, and the windows grant expects attic and wall insulation to be in place or upgraded alongside, per the SEAI windows and doors page. The maximum solar PV grant stays at €1,800 for 2026, per the SEAI solar electricity page.

Grant Applications in 2026

Demand responded to the new values immediately. SEAI processed 29,000 grant applications between January and March 2026, with overall applications up 96% on the same period of 2025 and applications for individual measures up 186%, per the Ministerial update of 21 April 2026. Within the quarter there were over 7,000 applications for the new windows and doors grant, over 1,730 for attic insulation (up 81% year on year), over 1,000 for cavity wall insulation (up 62%) and over 350 for heat pumps (up 95%). For comparison, 14,770 applications were processed across all schemes in the first quarter of 2025, per the SEAI Q1 2025 report. An application is not yet a completed upgrade, and the gap between the two lines in 2026 will show how quickly the supply chain absorbs the surge.

Home Energy Upgrades Delivered by Year

Delivery has risen every year since the schemes were expanded. The figures below are drawn from the SEAI statements linked in each row.

The first quarter of 2026 ran 3.3% ahead of the 11,910 upgrades completed in the first quarter of 2025 (calculated from the SEAI Q1 2025 report), and the application surge feeds delivery with a lag of several months, so the second half of 2026 is where the new grants will show up in completed homes. Government expenditure in the first quarter of 2025 was €76 million.

Free Upgrades for Homes in Energy Poverty

The Warmer Homes scheme delivers fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty. 8,100 energy poor homes received free upgrades in 2025, backed by more than €230 million, up from more than 7,700 homes in 2024, per the SEAI, August 2026 and the SEAI review of 2024. The context is the CSO’s finding that 4.5% of people were unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm in 2025, per the CSO SILC Enforced Deprivation 2025.

Progress Against the National Targets

The Climate Action Plan target is 500,000 home energy upgrades to a B2 standard by 2030, backed by €8 billion in Exchequer funding to 2030, per the Government’s National Retrofit Plan. By April 2026, 257,000 upgrades of all depths had been delivered since 2019 with over €1.7 billion in funding, per the SEAI. The National Residential Retrofit Plan 2026, published on 27 January 2026, added the expanded grants above along with low cost retrofit loans and reduced VAT on heat pumps and solar panels.

The gap is still wide. Not every upgrade reaches B2: almost 22,000 of the 54,000 homes upgraded in 2024 hit B2 or better, per the SEAI review of 2024. Even at the 2026 target pace of 73,000 upgrades a year, the B2 count and the 2030 deadline require the deeper, multi measure upgrades that the enlarged heat pump bundle and second wall measure rule are designed to drive.

What the Grants Deliver

The measurable return shows up in ratings and prices. 3,609 of the 2024 upgrades included a heat pump, and 84% of rated Irish homes built in 2020 to 2024 now have one, per the SEAI and the CSO Q1 2026 BER release. SEAI and MyHome analysis of almost 50,000 sales found each step up the BER scale is associated with an average 2.7% higher sale price, so a grant aided jump of several bands carries a five figure value on a typical home, per the SEAI, August 2026. Lenders’ green mortgage rates for homes rated B or better add a financing saving on top. Assessment activity is also at record levels: 170,694 domestic BERs were published in 2024, the highest annual figure since the rating was introduced, per the SEAI review of 2024.

How Far the Grants Go Against Typical Costs

Grant coverage varies sharply by measure. At the small end, a grant aided attic job offers the deepest percentage cover: against the €1,750 to €3,500 cost of a standard 300mm mineral wool job on a three bed semi in our attic insulation cost guide, the €1,500 semi-detached grant covers between 43% and 86% of the bill (calculated). Cavity wall insulation behaves similarly because the works are quick and the €1,300 to €1,800 grants are large relative to the job. External wall insulation is the opposite case: the €6,000 to €8,000 grants are the largest in the insulation scheme but the works are the most substantial, as our guide to external wall insulation costs sets out, so the grant functions as a meaningful discount rather than majority funding. The heat pump bundle at up to €12,500 is now the single largest domestic grant SEAI offers, per its heat pump grant page.

Who Can Apply and How

Eligibility turns on the age of the home. Insulation, windows, doors and heating controls grants require a home built and occupied before 31 December 2010; heat pump and solar PV grants extend to homes built and occupied before 2021, per the SEAI’s individual grant pages. Every home needs an MPRN, and works must be carried out by an SEAI registered contractor.

There are two routes. A homeowner can apply directly and manage the upgrade with a registered contractor, with the grant paid after completion, or use a One Stop Shop that applies on their behalf and deducts the grants upfront from the contract price. Some measures carry extra steps worth planning for: heat pump applications for pre-2007 homes need a €200 technical assessment unless a valid BER shows a heat loss indicator of 2.3 W/m²K or lower, solar PV works must be completed within 8 months of approval, external wall insulation can require an ESB Networks service alteration, and windows and doors payments require a post works BER, per the SEAI windows and doors page.