“funding for domestic energy efficiency, insulation and refurbishment projects.” With that line added to Housing, Scottish Ministers have shifted Scotland’s retrofit programme into the Housing portfolio. The change was made on 2 December and takes effect on 3 December 2025, according to legislation.gov.uk.

The Budget (Scotland) Act 2025 Amendment Regulations 2025 reorganise in‑year spending for 2025/26. The former Net Zero line is retitled “Climate Action”, and the domestic energy efficiency spend moves out of that area and into Housing via a new budget purpose labelled 8A, approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

Purpose 8A is broad. It empowers ministers to fund building standards work, housing subsidies and guarantees, debt costs, research and publicity, and a wide suite of housing programmes. It explicitly covers the Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, homelessness activity, grants to local authorities and registered social landlords (RSLs), loans to individuals, cladding remediation and the cladding assurance register, alongside domestic energy efficiency.

The numbers matter for delivery teams. Purpose 8A is set at £1,007,585,986 in resources (other than accruing) with up to £90,000,000 in accruing resources. For retrofit installers, housing associations and councils planning works through winter and spring, that is the headline pot now sitting under Housing.

Purpose 9 is restyled as “Climate Action” and no longer carries the domestic energy efficiency line. Its resource figure is set at £568,939,850. In practical terms this looks like a shift in responsibility rather than a retreat on climate outcomes, with home energy measures now managed from within Housing.

Across the whole Scottish Administration, Schedule 1 totals are updated to £64,358,698,565 for resources other than accruing and £9,547,500,000 for accruing resources. Overall cash authorisations are revised to £60,482,300,149 for the Scottish Administration, £136,210,926 for the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) and £14,067,000 for Audit Scotland. In Schedule 2, the SPCB’s direct‑funded resource is set at £153,110,926.

For councils and RSLs, the immediate change is administrative. With retrofit now housed in the Housing portfolio, procurement, claims and reporting may align to housing directorates and local authority housing teams rather than climate units. Finance leads should ensure 2025/26 coding reflects the new 8A purpose and the retitled Climate Action line.

There is a clear signal for the North of England supply chain too. Many firms based in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Teesside, Cumbria and Lancashire deliver into Scottish programmes. Expect tendering and contract management to look and feel more like housing-led schemes; maintaining PAS 2030/PAS 2035 compliance and robust resident engagement will remain essential.

Cladding work is explicitly retained within Housing. Assessment and remediation under Scotland’s Cladding Remediation Programme, plus development of the cladding assurance register, are all kept within the 8A remit. That points to a continued pipeline for surveyors, façade specialists and fire engineers, including those Yorkshire and North West firms already operating across the Central Belt.

The regulations were signed at St Andrew’s House by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2025 and come into force on Wednesday 3 December. The figures and wording cited here are taken from the statutory instrument published on legislation.gov.uk.

What happens next will be about delivery detail: updated guidance to councils and RSLs, and any procurement notices that follow the portfolio shift. For Northern contractors and social landlords working over the border, the practical takeaway is simple-treat retrofit as a Housing‑led programme from today.