Green Home Grant Scheme

By Sophie Walton

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners will receive vouchers of up to £5,000 for energy-saving home improvements, with the poorest getting up to £10,000.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is due to set out a £2bn grant scheme in England for projects such as insulation as part of a wider £3bn plan to cut emissions.

Available measures

The available measures are split into “primary” and “secondary” categories. Households will need to install at least one of the primary measures below to qualify for funding.

Insulation: Solid wall, cavity wall, under-floor, loft, flat roof, room in roof, park home.

Low carbon heat: Air source heat pump, ground source heat pump, solar thermal
“Top ups” are allowed (e.g. additional loft insulation up to the recommended level, solid wall insulation for other walls where a wall has been previously insulated), but replacements are not included.

So long as there is at least one primary measure in the package of works, households will also be able to install secondary measures. Secondary measures can only be subsidised up to the amount of subsidy provided for primary measures. (e.g. if a household receives £1,000 for primary measures, they can only receive a maximum of £1,000 towards secondary measures).

The secondary measures are:

• Draught proofing
• Windows and doors: Double/triple glazing (where replacing single glazing), secondary glazing (in addition to single glazing), upgrading to energy efficient doors (where replacing doors installed prior to 2002).
• Heating controls and insulation: appliance thermostats, hot water tank thermostats, hot water tank insulation, smart heating controls, zone controls, delayed start thermostat, thermostatic radiator valves
For low-carbon heating to be installed, households will need to have adequate insulation (e.g. wall and loft, where applicable). These can be installed as part of a package – they do not have to already be in situ.

Eligibility

For the general scheme, the following properties are eligible:

• All owner-occupied homes (including long-leaseholders, shared ownership)
• Landlords of private rented sector domestic properties
• Landlords of social sector domestic properties (including LA owned homes)
• Park home owners (for residential sites including Gypsy and Traveller sites)

New-build domestic properties and non-domestic properties are not eligible. For the low-income scheme, only owner-occupied properties and park homes are eligible. Households receiving income-based or disability benefits would be eligible for a fully funded package of measures.

Eligibility for low-income scheme

You qualify for the Green Home Grants low-income scheme if you receive at least one of the following benefits:

• Income based Jobseekers allowance (JSA)
• Income based Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support (IS)
• Pension Guarantee Credit
• Working Tax Credit (WTC)
• Child Tax Credits (CTC)
• Universal Credit (UC)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Contribution based Jobseekers allowance (JSA)
• Contribution based Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
• Housing benefit