If you’re already thinking about ways to stay warm this winter, it might be time to look more seriously into how you can keep your home cozy, without breaking the bank.
Many homes across the UK suffer from poor insulation or no energy-saving measures at all, leaving homeowners and renters with rapidly rising heating bills. The Green Homes Grant has been designed to stop this from becoming even more of a problem this winter.
Under the government scheme, homeowners can apply for free vouchers to upgrade their homes with energy-efficient solutions, helping them reduce their energy output, and save the pennies too.
Especially now many of us will be working at home, making energy-saving adjustments to your home now – with the help of a government-funded grant – means you’ll save money in the long run. It’s estimated that you can save up to £600 a year on your energy bills, simply by making changes to your home.
Applications for the Green Homes Grant opened on 30th September 2020 and will run through to 30th March 2020, giving you a full six months to apply for potentially huge energy-saving measures in your home.
Unfortunately, the grant does not include combi boilers and other traditional heating systems, but there are other forms of support, including boilers on finance schemes.
What Do I Need to Apply?
To receive fully or part-funded measures to help keep your home energy bills down, you’ll need a few pieces of information to hand;
- Names and dates of birth of the property owners
- Names and dates of birth of every/any resident living in the property who is currently receiving benefits
- A trusted quote from an approved supplier for any work due to being carried out
- The license number of the tradesmen chosen to complete your home improvements
The tradesmen you have chosen to carry out the work on your home must be registered with TrustMark, and you must provide their license number when you apply.
The maximum value of vouchers provided is £5000 for homeowners, and £10,000 for low-income homeowners, giving you a decent budget to fully insulate your home. Alongside primary measures like insulating your home, the government is also offering vouchers for secondary energy-saving measures around the home, such as energy-efficient replacement doors, draught-proofing, and heating controls.
What Does the Scheme Cover?
Under the scheme, the government will pay for up to two-thirds of your home improvement costs to help you save the energy within the home. A lower energy output means lower bills: the more measures you can put into place to keep heat within your home, the less you’ll spend through the winter months.
The grant covers primary and secondary measures to save energy in the home. The most effective solution to quickly cut down on energy bills is effective insulation and low carbon measures. To make the most of the scheme in full, you’ll have to apply for primary fixes, and then match the price of your secondary measures.
In a nutshell, that means you can’t use your grant to install low-energy lighting and upgraded windows in your home if you haven’t already enlisted the help of a professional to help you sort out bigger jobs, like insulating your roof, first.
Am I Eligible?
The Green Homes Grant is open to all homeowners, including long-leaseholders and shared owners, the owners of park homes, and residential landlords of private and social rented homes. It’s important to note that those living in new builds that have not previously been occupied cannot apply for the scheme. To check whether you’re eligible, head to the government website.
Households on a low income are eligible for full grants that cover the entire cost of energy-saving renovations. The government aims to get more than 900,000 families out of fuel poverty through the scheme.
If you’re eligible for the green homes grant, investing your time into looking into any measures you can take is extremely worthwhile. Not only are you able to save money in the long run, but you’ll also be contributing to the economy with an estimated 100,000 new jobs being created for green homes, and doing your bit for the environment too.
