Home Improvement Fund

[united4ever]

Hi, so I bought a house in October. Am I right in thinking I don't need to get an assessor in if the items I want doing are on the EPC? I am looking at Cavity Wall Insulation and Floor Insulation.

The EPC says 'Cavity wall, as built, no insuation (assumed)'. It's a 1960s Barratt home, is their any way I can confirm if there is or isn't cavity wall insulation...same for floor insulation.

The other things which are not on the EPC which I would like is High Performing doors. The original door is single glazad and though there is a tiny vestibule with a second door the entrance and hall are really cold even with the radiator blasting out heat.

So, am i right in saying I need to get a quote for the above mentioned work and submit this with the online application along with EPC and then wait until february for the next funds to be released? I also read that if you bought the house in the last 12 months you can get £500 for just having the work done....sounds too good to be true but would like to learn more.

Thanks in advance

Loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, hot water insulation and draught-proofing are amazingly cheap, save a lot of energy, and have a fast payback.

Floor insulation and new doors and windows, not. But you may as well do it if you are having new ones because the old ones are rotten, or, if a chipboard floor is cracked or has been damp.

If you have a concrete floor you can't do anything.

You can tell by looking at a wall if it has had lots of holes drilled in it for CWI, or if you go into the loft, you can probably look down the cavities or into gaps in the brickwork.

I don't know the Home Improvement Fund.

p.s.

I see it is a term used for Green Deal.

You can probably get free loft and wall insulation anyway, without them.

Start with www.britishgas.co.uk/energy-saving-products/home-insulation even if you are not their customer. Or try other large gas and electricity suppliers and your local council. Avoid doorsteppers.

I am honestly not sure, it's a really good question! Give the green deal helpline a ring - they are very good - 0300 123 1234. I would have thought there would be a lot of duplication of effort between the EPC and the green deal assessment, but I know there are calculations with the green deal about how quickly an improvement will yield a payback in terms of energy use, and I am not sure these are factored in to the EPC??

I just had my house externally insulated on the deal. It was far more straightforward than I thought, and my house is so much warmer now. Definitely recommend it. The only thing I would say is that the money for it is released in blobs, and you have to keep a very close eye on when those blobs become available and move fast to secure them, because the fund dries up really fast and then they change the amount you can get. For example, I got £6k towards the insulation, but now it's only £4k.

Generally the only way to check for insulation is to remove an external brick. However you may be able to look down the cavity from the loft or even remove a light switch on an external wall to see.