Green Homes Grant

[Sarjest]

Does anyone know any detail about the Green Homes Grant scheme Rishi Sunak announced recently? We were hoping to replace some single glazed windows in the next few months but if there is a chance we could get help we’ll hold off. We’re unlikely to qualify if it’s means tested.

Does anyone know how much and how disruptive is underfloor insulation?

Not massively depending on what floors you have. Its generally used for those with a suspended wooden floor over a cellar (so effectively you're putting loft insulation type material onto the ceiling of your cellar to insulate the suspended wooden floor above).

Under the current insulation scheme (not the new one we are discussing) you have to have at least two thirds of your ground floor space (ie the footprint of the house) done to be eligible.

What about the new scheme @HasaDigaEebowai

Only my living room and dining room are exposed wooden floors one room above a cellar

Also my bedrooms have wooden floorboards

Bedrooms don’t count since there’s no need to insulate them from the warm downstairs. You can only count the footprint (ie the downstairs footprint) of the house

The floors don’t need to be exposed though, they just need to be suspended floors ie wooden floors rather than a concrete slab

Thanks Hasa- I presume the new scheme doesn’t have restrictions with insulation? Can’t see any evidence of that.

I think the restrictions are simply around if you already have insulation. Obviously if your loft insulation for example is already at the right level then you can't get the grant to add more. However if you have loft insulation already but its not at the correct thickness then you can top it up.

I'm not an expert in the scheme by the way, I've just been looking at it for possible solar thermal panels (hot water).

Yes I’m also thinking about the solar panels for hot water!

Likewise we are waiting to see if we should replace our windows, and our doors. Also no chance at all of qualifying if it's means tested… It would be great if it included everybody.

I’d love solar panels, but there’s a loft conversion, the front has two velux and a front pitched part (not sure what you call it) and a dormer on the back, so not sure we have a enough appropriately angled roof space for them. Can you get these companies to come out to you to talk through what your property is suitable for?

We need a new boiler as well, so am a little interested in the option of an air source heat pump. But I think it would have to sit out on the driveway, so not sure if that’s an issue somehow, or how it would work really in terms of what pipe work and things it would need.

Hoping we can take advantage of this but I am concerned about the time factor. We moved into our house last November. It is stone and concrete construction. Solid walls. No insulation apart from loft. EPC rated G. 3 x coal fires. Double glazed but single glazing to 3 windows. No heating except for coal fires and 3 electic wall heaters. Electricity bill for first 10 days was £180!!!. Planning to have ASHP and internal wall insulation (struggling to find a company near me that do this). Have just spent £1200 on underfloor insulation (to all rooms accessible from cellars below) and that is with DH doing the work himself.
Bad timing in itself but we have to try and do something before winter. Having quotes for wood burning stove as I write.
My understanding is that the voucher scheme will be open from Sept 2020 until Sept 2021. Depending upon the applicaton process, we might not be ready to apply as we are having the internal space remodelled with 7 walls and a concrete staircase removed.
We are not eligible for any benefits, ever. If we are able benefit from this I will eat hay with a donkey.

How will the IWI work, @Joans3rddaughter? I’ve been trying to read up on it, our property has solid wall construction (built in the 30s). The main issue I can see is it eating into the footprint of the room, which don’t mind too much on the front wall but the side wall has the stairs against it so not really any space to lose.

Although it’s a little more restrictive than first reported I’m really pleased. This will be the first grant we’ve ever been eligible for and hope to take advantage of the under floor insulation (accessed by the cellar) and roof insulation. We had the loft done when we moved in.

However we couldn’t get on the website for the bike grant so hope this will be a bit easier to access.

180 for ten days!!!!

Lord. That's awful!!

Was it on constant.

We’ll still have a go. The loft insulation could do with a top up although I hadn’t planned on doing it, which would then allow a claim for replacement windows. Unfortunately the only local company registered for loft insulation gets bad reviews...

I was really hoping this scheme would be good for us but now feeling government seems to promise a lot but no one is ever eligible to get it.

For Lemonylemony,
IWI only involves insulating the internal surface of any external walls. It will reduce the room size but only along the length of one wall if all of the other walls of the room are internal. On a room at the corner of the house, two external walls might be insulated internally.

My husband has been looking into this because he is a plumber

His understanding is that you can't have a whole heating system (boiler) replaced under the grant but if you get a new insulated hot water cylinder, then you can have that paid for and the client can pay for the boiler (which won't be so expensive actually) and then you effectively have a new heating system

Also that heating controls can be included in the grant

Insulation is relatively cheap to have done V buying windows / doors and you would get more bang for your buck I think

Also solar panels which he said are not as expensive as he originally thought so using them to power the heating or heat hot water in a house for example with a hot water tank..

But I'm not a plumber and I do turn off a bit when he talks about things like that to me

I will try to find out more and come back

My understanding is that the amount of money able to be claimed for the primary solution eg. Loft insulation, will be matched, but not higher, for the secondary solution eg. replacement of single glazed window.
For example, (primary) instillation of underfloor insulation @ cost of £2100. Home owner pays £700, uses voucher for remaining £1400. Plus (secondary) replacement of single glazed windows @ cost of £9000. Homeowner uses voucher to claim £1400 and pays remaining £7600.
If I have understood this correctly, in order to benefit fully voucher claimants need to have either a primary installation costing £15000 or a primary installation costing £7500 plus a secondary installation costing £7500.

Really interested in this and actually think given current circumstances we may qualify for the full 10k 🤞

I thought the maximum one can claim would be 10k (low-income) vs 5K (anyone).
The secondary measure cost will be matched to a primary measure cost. Thus you can claim up to 5k for primary and 5k for secondary low income. (2.5k primary 2.5k secondary anyone). For the lower amount that cost would actually be 2/3 of the original.

That to me doesn’t leave a lot for the secondary measures which probably are most expensive unless you are getting this low carbon heating.

I think its more restrictive than people thought it would be. I.e the government will give you a grant towards insulation as a primary measure or a low carbon heat pump system. If you spend 700 of the grant on the primary measure you can then only have up to another 700 towards new double glazing. Then you only qualify for new double glazing if you are upgrading from single glazing.

It sounds as though a lot of people may struggle to qualify for anything beyond some insulation as either the primary measure eats up much of the 5k or the amount you spend on the primary measure is small enough that you barely qualify for anything towards secondary.