The Green Homes Grant (GHG) scheme is helping homeowners across England make key energy efficiency improvements to their houses.
What are Green Home Grants?
The government has set up the GHG scheme, offering to cover up to two-thirds of the cost of energy efficiency measures. This could mean being eligible for up to £5,000 to put towards home improvements.
Who are eligible for a grant?
For grants to be awarded up to the value of £5,000, your property needs to meet the threshold. Those eligible are as follows;
- All owner-occupied homes
- Landlords of private rented sector domestic or social sector domestic properties
- Park homeowners
Low-income households will be eligible for a grant of up to £10,000, which must cover the full cost of the home improvement measures installed.
If you are claiming other government funding, there are stipulations;
- If you have received funding from the Local Authority Delivery Scheme (LAD), you are not eligible for the GHG scheme
- If you have received funding from the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), you can claim both ECO and Green Homes Grant as long as they are each for different measures.
It is important to note that home improvement work can only begin after the voucher has been issued by the government. Otherwise, any work started before the voucher issue date is rendered ineligible, and the voucher will not apply.
What measures are covered under the scheme?
It is vital to understand that to be eligible and compliant with the scheme, the home improvements must have a ‘primary’ measure installed. Homeowners are also able to install ‘secondary’ measures, although these face subsidy rules.
What is defined as a primary measure is as below:
- Insulation: Installing insulation such as Cavity wall, underfloor, loft, etc.
- Low Carbon heat: Heat sources such as Solar thermal hot water, Air source heat pump etc.
- As well as installing new energy efficiency measures, there is an allowance to improve existing measures, such as increasing the thickness of insulation to the recommended 300mm.
A full list of ‘primary’ measures can be found on the government’s website.
For funding towards ‘secondary’ measures, as stated by the government, the amount you get towards the cost of secondary measures cannot exceed the amount you get for primary measures.
What is defined as a secondary measure is as below:
- Draught proofing
- Hot water tank insulation
- Double or triple glazing (where replacing single glazing)
- Secondary glazing (in addition to single glazing)
- External energy-efficient replacement doors (replacing single-glazed doors or doors installed before 2002)
- Heating controls and insulation
Here at VOR, we have an experienced specialist team that can guide you through each measure that will have the biggest impact on your home.
Contact us today to kickstart your project
