Claim Government Grants for energy efficiency upgrades to your home and start saving!

EPC stands for Energy Performance Certificate which determines the energy performance of a property, rated between A (the most energy efficient) and G (the least energy efficient). In order to determine your rating, a certified Domestic Energy Assessor will carry out a non-invasive survey of your property which involves collecting information about such things as insulation, wall type, windows as well as what heating and hot water system you have installed. Upon completion of the survey, in addition to calculating your current EPC rating, the software will also compile a list of recommendations which can be undertaken in order to improve your homes energy efficiency to meet the potential EPC rating for your property which in turn could reduce your energy bills.

• BUS (Boiler Upgrade Scheme)

• ECO4

• GBIS (Great British Insulation Scheme)

• SHDF (Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund)

The ECO4 scheme is funded by large energy suppliers. For householders, this funding encourages the upgrading of any eligible property's energy efficiency to drive down consumption. Measures deemed to be suitable for the property are completely funded and the homeowner bears no cost for the improvements.

People living in private domestic premises and are a member of the Help to Heat Group (HTHG). Membership of the HTHG entails receipt of at least one of the following benefits and satisfaction of the relevant income requirements:

• Income based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)

• Income related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• Income Support (IS)

• Pension Credit Guarantee Credit (PCGC)

• Working Tax Credit (WTC)

• Child Tax Credit (CTC)

• Universal Credit (UC)

• Housing Benefit

• Pension Credit Savings Credit (PCSC)

• Child Benefit (within the income caps)

People living in social housing with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G, where the premises are let below the market rate are also eligible for funding under the ECO4 scheme.

The BUS (Boiler Upgrade Scheme) is a Government-funded grant that provides homeowners and landlords with £7,500 worth of funding to go towards the installation of an ASHP (Air Source Heat Pump) heating system. The scheme has been guaranteed to run until 2028 and funding is applied for by the property owner and claimed by the installer once they have found a suitably MCS qualified contractor who is enrolled with the scheme.

In some cases, the Government funding may cover the whole cost of the installation but in others, some more extensive work will need to be done to the existing system to enable efficient operation of a low-temperature heating system. In these cases, the amount of money a customer would need to contribute additionally to the grant would depend on the size of the house and the extent of work needed to ensure conformity.

Ownership: You must be the owner of the property you’re applying for, whether it’s a commercial property, your primary residence, or a property you rent out to tenants.

Tenants: If you are a tenant of a rental property and have the desire to take advantage of the BUS scheme, you must have permission from your landlord.

SHDF is funded by the Government through Local Authorities as part of their low carbon initiative, aimed at social housing. Local authorities can apply for a funding budget that is dependent on the size of their district and the efficiency of its properties, which is judged through EPC ratings. The size of the district and the higher the number of poor performing properties will directly relate to the budget allocation they receive. The drawback of this scheme is that the SHDF fund can only be used for 50% of the total cost of the upgrades. This means the local authorities have to fund the rest of the upgrades themselves, i.e. if an upgrade costs £10,000 for the property, £5,000 would be SHDF funded and the remaining £5,000 would come out of the districts annual budget.

All social housing whether they are on or off the gas grid. There is no income criteria for this fund and all measures installed must reduce bills in isolation compared to the existing system.

Fabric Measures - Loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, flat roof insulation etc.

Low Carbon Heating Systems - Air Source Heat Pump

Solar PV - Electricity generation but excluding battery storage.

The GBIS (Great British Insulation Scheme) is a Government born scheme that places obligation on medium and large energy companies such as Ofgem, to deliver measures that reduce energy usage for homeowners, whilst offsetting their own carbon emissions. Like ECO4, GBIS is designed to deliver improvements to the least energy-efficient homes to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce occupant's energy bills. Additionally, it is also available to those living in homes with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D-G, and those within Council Tax bands A-D in England. However, unlike ECO4's 'whole house approach' GBIS is limited to providing mostly single insulation measures such as loft , cavity wall and internal/external wall insulation.

The time is now to take advantage of this scheme as it won't last forever and has a planned end date of April 2026.

• You own your own home or rent (either renting privately or from a housing association).

• Your home is in council tax band A to D in England

• Your home has an EPC rating of D or below.