Getting cavity wall insulation fitted in block of flats

Marty82

Has anyone had any experience of this? If so how did they go about it and which company did you use?

I live in a three storey block of six flats, two flats per floor, and want to investigate getting free cavity wall insulation fitted. I know I have to get every flat owner's consent but want to be armed with as much information as possible before I approach them. MSE says that EDF definitely covers flats but what is the situation with other providers? Is the £200/£300 cover for scaffolding going to be enough for my block? I ask this as some of my neighbours are unlikely to agree to having the work done if they have to pay towards it as some are on limited means and others have just moved in so have plenty of other home expenses!

I look forward to all your advice as always. You MSE forum people are a good lot!

Marty82

4771,

Thanks for your prompt reply.

As far as I'm aware all of the schemes available at present are open to all irrespective of income, benefits etc, ie they are not means tested, so I am not worried about that aspect.

What I am unsure about is which companies will consider applications from blocks of flats and how to go about doing so. Does each householder need to apply or can one householder coordinate the process and simply gain consent from the others?

Does anyone know how much scaffolding costs? EDF only provide £200/£300 towards this. I doubt my neighbours will want to pay anything towards installation hence my question. Having said that it has been the case in the past that when communal work needed done to the block, eg the roof, we have gone with the majority vote and made those who disagreed pay. I believe our title deeds make a provision towards this.

I am currently on ESA but I don't think this entitles me to more funding as you also need to be claiming another benefit.

Thanks for the EDF link which makes interesting reading as it completely contradicts the information in the MSE article on free insulation which states the following:

Some of the suppliers will install free insulation in flats - definitely EDF Energy - but you do have to get the insulation installed for the whole block, which means getting agreement from all your neighbours.

budgetdiyer

I very much doubt scaffolding will be anywhere as low as the figures you mention.

I just had the two sides of a three storey block of flats redecorated, the scaffolding element of the cost came in at iirc £1200 and one quote was £2400 for scaffolding alone!

Marty82

Budgetdiyer,

Thanks, I was thinking that the scaffolding would cost far more than the amount that EDF offers. I guess I'll just have to persuade four households out of the six to spend money on scaffolding in order for us to go with the majority verdict.

14Westfield

I have recently applied via Energy Saving Scotland to get the cavity in my block of flats insulated. In Edinburgh atleast there is funding for "normal" people to get it done for free rather than certain groups as before - and the Council have given a blanket permission for their properties.
I should wait a few week for a site survey and will then see how it goes!

14Westfield

4771_Miles_To_Caracas wrote: »

What are 'normal people?

Everyone outwith the previous free groups! ;-)

fussysoandso

Just to add to the general malaise...

I live in a 3-storey building comprising one third commercial and two thirds residential (flats numbering 8). Being curious about the possibilities of cavity wall insulation - grants or otherwise - I arranged for a 'free insulation' surveyor to call and inspect re: likelihood of work being carried out f.o.c. or at some contributory cost (no benefit recipients here amongst the residents). I put in web enquiries with Scottish Power via this site as their qualification criteria suggested I would fall within its scope, and none of the others, including EDF, seemed to suggest this. I also did a quick Google search and placed another enquiry online via getinsulation.co.uk

NES (Nationwide Energy Services) called me but were unable or unwilling to tell me from where they received my enquiry so I don't know if they came via ScottishP or GetIn... Nevertheless, a 'surveyor' called.

"Your cavity's over 75mm so won't be free. Only cavities up to 50mm are free", I was told. Also, due to certain limited access constraints and the commercial premises below, "This is what we term a Hard To Treat - HTT - property". But all may not be lost he continued... "HTTs, due to companies having to meet government targets, will soon be rolled out and looked at favourably. I'll contact you again soon when this happens." And that was pretty much how we left it.

My expectations initially were low but unless you ask you can't be sure. I'm still not expecting much, if anything to happen, but will post again if I receive further contact or news.