Green Homes Grant
August 2020
The government has announced a Green Homes Grant which will give homeowners in England a voucher to install one or more of the following "primary categories" in existing properties:
- solid wall, under-floor, cavity wall or roof insulation
- air source heat pump or ground source heat pump
- solar thermal
In addition (if households have installed one of the above), households can use their voucher for further energy saving measures. These "secondary categories" include one or more of the following:
- double or triple glazing/secondary glazing, when replacing single glazing
- upgrading to energy efficient doors
- hot water tank/appliance tank thermostats/heating controls
Households can only use their voucher for "secondary categories" up to the value they have spent on "primary categories".
The voucher can be used (from the end of September) to pay two-thirds of the cost of these improvements up to a value of £5,000. Those on low incomes can receive 100% of the costs up to a value of £10,000.
Suppliers must be registered with TrustMark and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) to take part in the scheme.
The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said the scheme is expected to deliver improvements for over 600,000 households, while creating an estimated 100,000 jobs in green construction. To have 600,000 homes install a heat pump in the next six months would be a great start. However, that would still leave around 24,000,000 still needing to be converted to low carbon heating.
Opportunity for heat pump installers
This is a great opportunity for heat pump installers and the £2bn Green Homes Grant scheme has been welcomed in a GSHPA Green Homes Grant press release.
Beware, however, that funding for the Green Homes Grant is limited to £2bn and that there may be no follow-on after 31 March 2021.
Opportunity for householders
This is a great opportunity for householders who have been considering a move to low carbon heating. This is now a great time to invest in a heat pump and benefit from lower running costs. It is also an opportunity to invest in a heat pump when a grant is available, because there is likely to be a time in future when it will not be possible to buy a replacement gas boiler.
Remember that to provide effective and efficient heating, a heat pump must be installed by someone who knows what he is doing: is your installer a member of the GSHPA?
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