New funds on offer for green improvements to homes

Homeowners and landlords will be able to benefit from new financial incentives to make energy efficiency improvements to homes.

A £2 billion Green Homes Grant scheme will be introduced in September offering property owners and landlords in England vouchers to pay for green improvements such as loft, wall and floor insulation.

It follows a previous announcement that there will be an extension to the application window for the Domestic Renewable Heating Incentive Scheme (DRHI) by 12 months to 31 March 2022.

Successful RHI applications receive quarterly payments for every kilowatt hour (kWh) of renewable heat produced for a period of 7 years. The heat sources available for funding under the scheme are air and ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels.

Payment levels are affected by the size of the property type and type of renewable heat source selected, but annual RHI payments can be in the hundreds of pounds for solar panels and biomass boilers, moving into the thousands of pounds for larger homes using ground or air source heat pumps.

The extension of the RHI scheme will be welcomed by many, especially those who were forced to delay installation of their new heating systems due to the effects of Covid-19.

The funding is available to homeowners, landlords and tenants to assist with both the higher up-front and running costs of the incentivised renewable heating sources.

Full details of the Green Homes Grant Scheme are not yet available, but government guidance suggest it will provide at least £2 for every £1 homeowners and landlords spend to make their homes more energy efficient, up to £5,000 per household.

For those on the lowest incomes, the scheme will fully fund energy efficiency measures of up to £10,000 per household.