Warm Homes Loan Scheme: Solar Panels & Batteries in Barnet & North London

GOV.UK sets three conditions: you must own the property, with or without a mortgage; it must be in the UK; and it must be a home, not a commercial building. The scheme rules add that lenders lend to owner-occupiers and to private landlords, on a personal basis, and that the scheme sets no income threshold. Each lender then makes its own decision, with a credit check and an affordability assessment, and may add conditions of its own, such as asking for an Energy Performance Certificate.

Ownership matters locally because it decides who can borrow against the roof. At the 2021 Census, 67.6% of households in High Barnet ward owned their home, against 52.7% across the borough of Barnet, where 36.6% of households live in purpose-built flats. In a flat, the roof is usually not yours alone to borrow against. If you rent, the decision about panels or a battery sits with your landlord. If you are on a low income, check first whether the council-run Warm Homes: Local Grant could fund the work instead; our solar panel grants in North London page explains how that grant is run across the boroughs.

1. Get an MCS installation quote. Every eligible job except a heat network connection must be done by an MCS-certified installer. HCE appears on the MCS installer directory for solar PV and battery storage under certificate number NAP-73495, held via NAPIT.
2. Choose a lender from the GOV.UK list. Rates and terms vary by lender — compare them on the GOV.UK lender list. The government’s factsheet notes that some lenders work only with particular installers, while others let you choose any MCS-certified installer, so ask your lender which applies before you commit.
3. Apply to the lender. The lender carries out its normal credit, affordability and eligibility checks and asks for the documents it needs, including the quotation.
4. Install, then keep the records. Once the loan is agreed and the system is fitted, keep the quotation, agreement, invoice and MCS certificate together.

We quote across North London, from Barnet and Finchley to Edgware, and in Bedfordshire, including Bedford and Luton. For a sense of scale, PVGIS, the European Commission’s solar model, gives an unshaded 4 kWp roof at 4 kWp, 35° tilt, due south, 14% system losses, building-mounted about 3,959 kWh a year in Barnet, 3,952 in Finchley, 3,999 in Bedford and 3,971 in Luton. Your own figure depends on your roof’s direction and shading, which is what the survey measures.

On price, the Energy Saving Trust puts a typical 4.5 kWp system of around 12 panels at around £7,600 installed; that is a national figure, not our quotation. Local detail is on solar panel cost in North London and solar panels across North London, and if a battery is part of the plan, battery storage in Barnet explains how one is sized. The battery systems in our own job photos are EnSmart. For what the loan will and will not pay for on a solar and battery job, read what a Warm Homes Loan can pay for.

Sources: GOV.UK: Warm Homes Loan Scheme guide, eligibility, lender list, Warm Homes: Local Grant · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Warm Homes Loan Scheme factsheet (27 October 2026), scheme rules (v3, September 2026) · MCS installer directory · HMRC, VAT on energy-saving materials · ONS Census 2021 TS054 Tenure (Nomis) · European Commission JRC, PVGIS · Energy Saving Trust, solar costs. Read 3 November 2026; PVGIS runs from our town pages.