The new £2 billion Green Homes Grant scheme will fund up to two-thirds of the cost of energy saving home improvements in England.
Under the Green Homes Grant Scheme, homeowners and landlords in England will be able to apply for vouchers worth up to two thirds of the cost of upgrading the energy efficiency of their home. For most people, the maximum contribution will be £5,000. Households on low incomes will be eligible for up to 100% funding, up to a maximum of £10,000.
Find out whether your home is eligible for a grant via the UK Government website.
Only homeowners, including owner occupiers and social / private landlords, in England will be able to access the scheme.
Advice and support on energy efficiency improvements is available to homeowners from the Simple Energy Advice service.
Simple Energy Advice will suggest appropriate home improvements that homeowners may be able to apply for support in funding.
They will then direct households to a list of approved TrustMark and or Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) registered tradespeople in their local area to carry out the work. You can find accredited installers in your area using this tool.
Once the works are agreed, you can apply for a voucher on the government’s Green Homes Grant page.
Head to the Green Homes Grant guide on the UK Government website. From here, you can check eligibility and find home improvements. You will then be asked to complete a survey about your home and its occupants to identify what measures might be suitable. Simple Energy Advice will suggest options with cost estimates and the contact details of local eligible tradespeople who could carry out the work.
When you apply for the voucher, you will need to include details of your chosen measures and tradespeople. So, before then, you will need to contact relevant tradespeople for each of your chosen measures to arrange for them to visit to survey your property (where relevant) and quote for the measure.
The UK Government suggests that quotes should be carried out via a physical inspection where possible. We recommend you get at least three quotes from three different installers.
This grant scheme is only open for a very limited time – until 31 March 2021 – and eligible tradespeople are likely to be very busy. To ensure you can benefit, we recommend you start organising quotes as soon as possible to make sure that your improvements can be completed within this timeframe.
You can apply for vouchers here.
The Green Homes Grant Scheme will provide vouchers to install one or more energy saving measures, including:
Households will need to install at least one of these measures above to qualify for funding.
In addition, you can use your voucher for further energy saving measures, including one or more of the following:
The vouchers will also cover some supplementary costs. These include professional services (such as structural engineer costs), contractor costs (such as waste removal and scaffolding) and associated work, such as improving ventilation and changes to pipework and radiators.
Check out the full list of supplementary costs.
There may be cases (for example, with low carbon heating) where the voucher doesn’t cover the whole cost. In some cases, it will be possible to combine the voucher with another scheme to promote low carbon heating, the Renewable Heat Incentive.
To do this, you will need to apply for the Green Homes Grant voucher first and use this to install a heat pump, for example. Once the measure is in place and the voucher redeemed, you can apply to the Renewable Heat Incentive.
If you are eligible, this will provide you with quarterly payments minus the amount you received from the Green Homes Grant. Find out more about combining the two schemes.
While the Green Homes Grant is only available in England, there are alternative sources of help available for energy saving home improvements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
You can find more information on help for energy saving home improvements:
Check with Home Energy Scotland – their advisors offer free, impartial advice on energy saving, keeping warm at home, renewable energy, greener travel, cutting water waste and more.
If you are struggling to keep your home warm or cope with your energy bills, the Nest scheme offers a range of free, impartial advice and, if you are eligible, a package of free home energy efficiency improvements such as a new boiler, central heating or insulation.
We recommend contacting NI Energy Advice to find out more about energy efficiency grants, such as the Affordable Warmth Scheme.