Funding support for energy saving measures expanded

Funding support for energy saving measures in the home is being expanded to more people in April 2023, according to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). The charity, which runs a free information service on eco-renovation, states that support has until now usually been for households on low incomes or those claiming certain government benefits¹.

CAT gives no further detail on the expansion. It does not name the schemes affected, the eligibility criteria that will apply from April 2023, the value of any support, or the date in the month on which the change takes effect. None of this has been reported in the pages reviewed¹.

What the pages do set out is the position before the change. In England, CAT states there is support for households with a gross annual income less than about £30,000 who own or privately rent a house with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or worse². It states that the Sustainable Warmth programme combines Local Authority Delivery Phase 3 (LAD3) funding for homes with mains gas and the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) for those without². Some support comes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme and some from government funding delivered by local schemes, and the names of local schemes vary².

"At the moment, support is usually for households on low incomes or those claiming certain government benefits, but it is being expanded to more people in April 2023."

The same wording appears on CAT's pages on internal wall insulation and external wall insulation¹. CAT directs households to their local authority to find out more about funding they may be able to claim for energy saving measures¹. It points to the government's Help to Heat summary page for an overview of the funding schemes¹.

Devolved arrangements differ. In Wales, CAT names the Nyth/Nest scheme (0808 808 2244) and Warm Wales¹. In Scotland it names Home Energy Scotland (0808 808 2282), which it states provides interest-free loans with additional cashback offers across a range of energy saving and renewable energy measures². In Northern Ireland it names NI Energy Advice (0800 111 4455)¹.

CAT also states that the government's TrustMark scheme now covers professionals who carry out energy efficiency work, including retrofits, and that it is being linked to a new standard, PAS 2035: Specification for the Energy Retrofit of Domestic Buildings².

Why it matters for households

Wall insulation is one of the measures the funding covers, and it bears directly on how much energy a home needs to buy. CAT states that almost one-third of all UK houses have solid walls, and that most houses built in the UK from the Victorian era up to about 1920 will have solid brick walls³. It states that external wall insulation is less disruptive and does not reduce room sizes, and that adding it leaves walls on the warm side of the insulation, where they act as thermal mass, helping to retain heat in winter and keep a home cool in summer³. Internal insulation may be more suitable for very thick stone walls, for homes in conservation areas with restrictions on changing appearance, or where narrow streets leave no space for external cladding¹.

CAT's wider position is that a mass retrofit of existing buildings is needed to cut heating demand, and it states: "We target a 50% reduction in heating demand in the Zero Carbon Britain scenario"². For a household, the practical effect of any widening of eligibility is that more homes could have part of the cost of insulation covered, which reduces the heat a home loses and therefore the energy it must buy. The pages reviewed do not state which measures the expanded support will cover, what proportion of costs it meets, or whether owner-occupiers, private tenants and landlords will be treated the same. Households on low incomes or certain benefits, and those in older or hard-to-treat homes, are the groups the existing schemes address; see Help for Low-Income Households in England, Help for Low-Income Households in Northern Ireland and Vulnerable and Medically Dependent Households. Landlords considering upgrades are covered in Funding Energy Upgrades as a Landlord, and older households in Older People and Home Energy. Households already in arrears or hardship are directed to Crisis Funds, Hardship Grants and Energy Debt Help.

What happens next

The expansion takes effect in April 2023¹. No further dated steps are given in the pages reviewed. CAT advises checking with your local authority for funding that may be available for energy saving measures¹.

Sources3 cited

1. Internal Wall Insulation - cat.org.uk, cat.org.uk
2. Whole House Eco-Retrofit - cat.org.uk, cat.org.uk
3. External Wall Insulation - cat.org.uk, cat.org.uk