You could be wasting £100s every year because your home isn’t energy efficient.
You may also be spending more money than necessary if you’re eligible for help paying for your electricity and gas bills.
To reduce the cost of home energy improvements, make your home cosier and reduce your carbon footprint, there are some grants from the government and energy suppliers you can apply for.
These grants cover part or up to 100 per cent of the cost of your chosen improvements. Costs include materials, labour and VAT.
However, these schemes are not available to everyone.
Read on to find out about the different housing and energy grants and whether you qualify.
- The Warm Home Discount Scheme
If you need help with your energy bills, the Warm Home Discount Scheme will give you £140 each year. The money isn’t paid to you. Rather, it’s applied to your electricity bill between October and March.
You have a better chance of qualifying if you’re a pensioner or receive certain benefits.
Not all suppliers are part of the scheme, so check with your supplier to see if they offer this discount.
- Winter Fuel Payment
This annual one-off payment is meant for senior citizens (Britons born on or before 5 October 1954).
The grant pays up to £300 towards your winter heating, provided you live in the UK for at least a day between 20 and 26 September 2021.
Click here to find how much you can get and how to claim.
- Cold Weather Payment
Cold Weather Payments can help you manage your energy bills if you already get income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit or Pension Credit.
Some households will be eligible for this grant if the average temperature or forecast is 0°C or below for a period of seven days in a row between 1 November and 31 March.
The £25 payment for each sub-zero week will help you pay for extra heating costs.
- ECO
For energy efficiency measures like cavity wall insulation and boiler replacements, check out grants by the Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
About 6.5 million homes are eligible for this scheme. But still, the eligibility criteria for ECO is complex.
You can check the Simple Energy Advice website to find out if you could qualify.
- Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
The upfront cost of installing energy generating technologies at home can be high.
But this grant helps householders, communities and businesses offset the initial cost of installing renewable heating technologies such as solar panels.
If you join the scheme and adhere to its rules, you’ll receive quarterly payments for seven years for the renewable heat amount that your system produces.
- Green Mortgages
Lenders like Barclays and NatWest offer lower interest rates or cash back for borrowers who buy energy-efficient homes.
Getting the Work Done
After getting a grant, you can begin the work.
Work cannot be completed by yourself, your immediate family or a member of your household.
Once you know what energy improvements you need, collect a few quotes from different installers. Your installer will need to meet MCS and PAS standards when installing your measures.
They may request a deposit. But the deposit can’t be larger than your expected contribution to the cost of measures under the provided quote.
Once the work is done, your installer should give you a certification for energy efficiency improvement measures, a guarantee document, and a dated copy of an invoice showing your selected measures, supply and installation cost.
Conclusion
Improving your home’s energy efficiency is one of the simplest ways to save energy and combat rising energy prices.
Thanks to the government’s housing and energy grants, getting such measures installed may not cost as much as you think.