Guide · urgent help
No heating or hot water? Nest's crisis route
Solar panels are rarely the first priority for a household without heating. Warm Homes Nest recognises that: alongside its standard packages, it has a crisis route for eligible homes with no working heating or hot water. Here's what the Welsh Government says about it.
In brief
Nest's crisis route gives urgent support to households without heating or hot water who meet Nest's eligibility criteria. In the scheme's first months, October 2024 to March 2025, it helped 222 households, deploying an emergency response to restore heating and hot water. Contact Nest and explain the situation straight away.
Checked at source on 3 November 2026 · An independent guide from SEO-DONS LTD, not the Welsh Government, Nest or a council
What it is
A faster route for the most urgent cases
The crisis route was introduced with the new Nest scheme. The Welsh Government's annual report describes it as providing urgent support for households without heating or hot water who meet Nest eligibility criteria, with an emergency response deployed to restore heating and hot water. Households referred this way are treated as needing immediate support.
Eligibility is the same as for Nest generally: the benefit route or the health route. What differs is the urgency and the work: the priority is to get heating and hot water working, rather than a wider package. Nest's rules also say boilers are repaired or replaced only where there is no working heating or hot water, which is exactly the crisis situation.
North Wales figures
Crisis-route results by area
| Council area | Saving |
|---|---|
| Isle of Anglesey | £819 |
| Gwynedd | £404 |
| Conwy | £643 |
| Denbighshire | £623 |
| Flintshire | £622 |
| Wrexham | £395 |
| Wales | £578 |
Welsh Government, from Nest management reports. Modelled averages, not a forecast for any one home.
Other help
What Nest refers people to
Nest also connects households with other support. In 2024 to 2025 it made 1,028 referrals. The report lists the main types:
- The Priority Services Register, 49% of referrals, which records households who need extra help during a power cut or other supply problem.
- Benefit entitlement checks, 44%, to make sure households receive everything they're entitled to.
- Care and Repair, 5%, which helps older or disabled people maintain and adapt their homes.
- Fuel bank vouchers, 1%, emergency credit for prepayment meters through a Welsh Government scheme.
What to do now
If your heating has failed
- If you smell gas, leave the property and call the gas emergency line straight away; that comes before anything else.
- Contact Nest, using details from gov.wales, and say you have no heating or hot water.
- Have details of any benefit, health condition and your household income to hand.
- If you're vulnerable in a cold home, ask your energy supplier about the Priority Services Register.
- Citizens Advice can help with bills, debts and your rights while it's sorted out.
Beware
Emergencies attract the wrong offers
A household without heating is under pressure, and that's when a quick "free boiler" or "government heating grant" offer is most tempting. Genuine emergency help through Nest comes from the scheme itself and costs eligible households nothing. Be wary of anyone who contacts you out of the blue, asks for a fee, or wants you to sign a finance agreement to get the work done. See spotting fake offers.
Afterwards
From crisis to a longer-term package
Once heating and hot water are restored, it may be worth asking whether the home could benefit from a wider Nest package, which could include insulation, heating improvements or solar, if the household meets the eligibility criteria. The Nest team decides what suits the home. See Warm Homes Nest and who Nest is for.
Who it reached
What the first months showed
The crisis route was designed for urgent cases, and the Welsh Government reports it supported 222 households in its first months, all without heating or hot water and meeting Nest’s criteria. In each of the six North Wales council areas, crisis-route households had modelled average yearly savings of between £395 and £819.
The report also notes that 34% of households receiving improvement packages had a household reference person aged 65 or over, the group most at risk in a cold home.
Older and disabled people
Help to stay warm and safe at home
Nest refers people to Care and Repair, which provides practical help for older or disabled people to maintain and adapt their homes, supporting independent living. Five percent of Nest’s referrals in 2024 to 2025 went there.
If an older relative is without heating, it can help to contact Nest on their behalf, with their agreement, and to ask their energy supplier to add them to the Priority Services Register at the same time.
Keeping warm meanwhile
While you wait for a repair
If you're waiting for heating to be restored, tell your energy supplier: suppliers have obligations to help customers in vulnerable circumstances, and the Priority Services Register exists for exactly this kind of situation. If you're on a prepayment meter and struggling to top up, ask about emergency credit, and Nest can refer eligible households to the Welsh Government's fuel bank vouchers. Citizens Advice can help with any bills or debts that build up.
Prevention
Avoiding the next crisis
Many heating failures follow years of an ageing boiler. If your heating is working but unreliable, and your household might meet one of Nest's routes, it's worth contacting Nest before it fails rather than after: a standard package can include heating improvements as well as insulation and, sometimes, solar. Nest's advice service can also help you understand your bills and controls, whether or not you qualify for a package.
Nest's advice line is the simplest starting point either way. Explaining that your heating is failing, rather than already broken, still helps the team judge how quickly to act, and whether a standard package could prevent the next crisis.
Keep a note of who you spoke to and when, in case you need to follow up, and ask for any next steps to be confirmed in writing or by email.
Checked against
- Warm Homes Nest scheme annual report 2024 to 2025 (Welsh Government), read 3 November 2026
- scams (Citizens Advice), read 3 November 2026
Not sure which scheme, if any, fits your home?
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What happens next
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- We reply by email with the scheme page that fits, if there is one.
- Any application is between you and that scheme.