Eligible for the new Green Homes Grant? Contact High & Dry
The Green Homes Grant Scheme has been launched by the UK government, with £2 billion set aside to help people to improve and upgrade their properties with various energy-saving features. At High & Dry, we’re proud to be part of this scheme, helping homeowners throughout the region to benefit from insulation, double glazing, and renewable energy generation such as solar panels. Read on to find out more about this new government-backed grant and find out if you’re eligible.
What does the Green Home Grant scheme provide?
The new Green Homes Grant provides homeowners across the UK with vouchers worth up to £10,000. Most will receive vouchers up the value of £5,000, covering two-thirds of the cost of the improvements. However, those on lower incomes can expect to receive £10,000, covering 100%. They won’t need to contribute anything to the works.
The government has said that these vouchers must be redeemed and all improvements are carried out by 31 March 2021. They also point out that you can’t use the vouchers to cover the cost of any works carried out previously.
The scheme covers a wide range of energy-saving home improvements. These are categorised as primary and secondary measures:
Primary measures
The voucher must be used for at least one primary measure. This can be an insulation measure and/or low carbon heating measure.
Insulation measures:
Solid wall
Underfloor
Loft
Cavity wall
Flat roof
Room in roof
Insulation for a park home
Low carbon heat measures:
Air/ground source heat pump
Solar thermal
Biomass boilers
Keep in mind that if you can’t use the vouchers to replace any insulation or low carbon heating measures which are already installed in your property. However, it is possible to use them to enhance existing measures, such as installing extra loft insulation so that it reaches to advised level.
Secondary measures
To qualify for secondary measures, you must have at least one of the primary measures carried out too. It’s also important that the cost of the secondary measures isn’t greater than the primary measures. Secondary measures include:
Draught proofing
Secondary glazing 
Double/triple glazing
Energy-efficient external doors
Heating controls
Hot water thermostats and insulation
What doesn’t the voucher cover?
There are a few things that the voucher doesn’t cover. These include the building of new extensions or conversions; insulating conservatories which have no fixed heating; installing a new boiler which burns fossil fuels such as gas or oil.
Am I eligible for the Green Homes Grant Scheme?
More than 600,000 homeowners are expected to benefit from the Green Homes Grant Scheme in some way. To be eligible, you must either own your own home or be a private or social landlord. If you’re a landlord, you won’t be able to apply for the low-come part of the scheme.
Your home must be located in England for you to benefit and new builds which haven’t yet been lived in aren’t eligible. Another thing to consider is that you can’t apply if you’ve already received a local authority grant to improve the energy-efficiency of your home.
To qualify for the low-income element of the scheme and receive 100% of the costs of the work carried out, you’ll need to receive at least one of the following:
Attendance Allowance
Child Tax Credits (CTC)
Carers allowance
Contribution-based Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
Contribution-based Jobseekers allowance (JSA)
Income-based Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
Income Support (IS)
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Housing benefit
Pension Guarantee Credit
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Severe Disablement Allowance
Universal Credit (UC)
Working Tax Credit (WTC)
Hiring a reputable local renovations service
If you’re eligible for the new Green Homes Grant, you’ll need to obtain a voucher by completing the application online. This should detail which energy-efficiency measures you want to have carried out. Once confirmed, you’ll need to find a local renovations company which accepts these buildings grants in Scunthorpe, Grimsby, or Brigg.
At High & Dry, we have Trustmark accreditation, making us eligible to carry out work under the scheme. We have met the strict rules for tradespeople involved the scheme, giving homeowners peace of mind that improvements will be carried out to the highest possible standards.
We’ve been given the seal of approval by the government themselves, so why not get in touch to find out how we can help? Once the work has been agreed with our team, the vouchers will be issued by the end of September, allowing us to begin making your home more energy-efficient in no time at all.
Why make your home more energy-efficient?
If you’re eligible for the Green Homes Grant, don’t ignore it. These government vouchers can help to make your home much more energy-efficient, cutting your energy bills as well as your carbon footprint. Improving your property’s energy-efficiency can lower your electric and gas bills, with experts predicting that work carried out under the scheme could save families as much as £200 every year.
At the same time, it could reduce carbon footprint by cutting a huge 700 kg of CO2 annually from a single property. Another benefit of making your home more energy-efficient which you may not have considered is that it can possibly improve its resale value. Many recent studies suggest that a property’s energy-efficiency has become increasingly important to prospective homebuyers in recent years.
Funding is only available for the Green Homes Grant until March 2021, so don’t let these building grants Grimsby, Scunthorpe, and Brigg pass you by. Find out if you’re eligible for the scheme today and start taking steps to make your home more energy-efficient. High & Dry can carry out a wide range of renovations and building works in your property, with our experienced tradespeople providing a high level of service to all our valued clients.