Anna Maria Richards
The UK government announced a £2 billion Green Homes Grant scheme in 2020, which will fund up to two-thirds of the cost of energy saving home improvements in England, and even cover 100% of costs for certain households. Vouchers of up to £5,000 are being offered to eligible households to fund home improvements, including insulation. This grant has now been extended by a year, meaning you can take advantage until March 2022.
Around 600,000 people are expected to benefit from the grant. The maximum amount available is £5,000, or £10,000 for certain households receiving specific benefits.
The UK’s previous business and energy secretary, Alok Sharma, said the scheme will mean ‘hundreds of pounds off energy bills every year.’ It should be noted though that improving the overall energy efficiency and insulation of a property are some of the key tenets when it comes to making your home greener. Undertaking air tightness testing upon the property seeking to become greener is still key, to understand and improve wherever in the property’s build is vulnerable to air leakage.
What can the grant be used for?
The grant is designed to encourage households to invest in energy-efficient home improvements. In order to qualify for the grant, you must install either insulation or low-carbon heating. These are called ‘primary’ measures under the scheme and include:
- Insulation: solid wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, under-floor insulation, loft insulation, flat roof insulation, room-in-roof insulation, park home insulation
- Biomass boilers
- Air-source heat pump Ground-source heat pump
- Solar thermal water heating
If you install one of the improvements in the list above using the scheme, you can then also get vouchers for a ‘secondary’ energy-saving measure from the list below:
- Double glazing, triple glazing or secondary glazing (only when you’re replacing single glazing)
- Energy-efficient doors (only if you are replacing doors fitted before 2002)
- Hot water tank thermostat or appliance thermostat
- Hot water tank insulation
- Smart heating controls, zone controls, thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)
- Draught proofing.
Who can get a grant?
Grants are available for homeowners and landlords in England. Homeowners include owner-occupiers, social and private landlords and park home owners; however, new-build homes aren’t eligible.
How can I get a grant?
In order to apply for the grant, head to the Government Website, the Green Homes Grant Scheme. You can also find out if you are eligible here. Before you apply for a voucher you will need to have decided what you are going to do and get a quote from the tradespeople you will be using.
Why uses this grant?
The real question is why wouldn’t you use this grant?
This grant offers huge savings on environmentally friendly home renovations. Not only will you be positively impacting your carbon footprint but you could save a lot of money in the long run. With a new low-carbon heating system or better insulation your heating bills will be lower year after year, saving you money long term. In previous times, homeowners and landlords may well have had to take out short or longer term loans to fund insulation and green home improvements (source: Kallyss).
When can I use the grant?
Homeowners and landlords have been able to apply for the vouchers since the scheme was launched at the end of September 2020.
You have until the end of March 2022 to take advantage of this grant, so get started sooner rather than later. To qualify, work must be scheduled to be completed, and the voucher redeemed before 31 March 2022, so it’s no use waiting until March to start.
