New Green Homes Grant to give up to £5,000 in vouchers for insulation and double-glazing

rubble2

We have a room over the integral garage that is noticeably colder then the rest of the house so would be interested in getting insulation under the bedroom floor/garage ceiling. I filled in the 'Plan' putting suspended floor insulation as required but at the end the only option it gives me is 'Insulate solid floor' as a primary grant.

Don't know how to get past this and I suspect that I won't bother as it looks like the usual fiasco when government is involved - lots of faff for no result.

vgsudjko91

Same problem here - I'm in the East of England.
The only primary measure I can access is underfloor insulation. Only one installer in the whole region can offer it, and they're a general builder so I'm pretty sure they're not going to want to travel for a day job. 
I have found another installer, but theyre unsure whether to go through the whole rigamarole of registering for what is only going to be a short term piece of work. 

Freyagirl

Fletchasketch said:

I've just requested three quotes for loft insulation from my nearest TrustMark providers. Will report back, but what's the betting literally nothing comes of this?!

From what I've read so far am I right in thinking that you can't get a grant/voucher to buy the loft installation and then install it yourself?

Yahoo_Mail

Freyagirl said:

Fletchasketch said:

I've just requested three quotes for loft insulation from my nearest TrustMark providers. Will report back, but what's the betting literally nothing comes of this?!

From what I've read so far am I right in thinking that you can't get a grant/voucher to buy the loft installation and then install it yourself?

You can't, no. It needs to be installed by a Trustmark registered tradesperson.

darkovo

I requested quotes 3 weeks ago and no one has got back to me, apart from 1 company that was inundated and added me to a list but didn't know when they'd get in touch again!

I've checked the list of my nearest installers on the simpleenergyadvice website and its the same 3 company telephone numbers per selected job type (12 companies in all), so nothing has changed in 3 weeks, and only 2 of these companies are actually reasonably local, others are 80+ miles away!

What is the point in this scheme apart from a publicity stunt?

Julia9CA

funkygal said:

Neil_Maclennan said:

I’ve applied, got my reference number but no confirmation email even though the website states “ We have sent you a confirmation email.”.

Anybody else had the same?

Yes, the same for me, no confirmation email. 

I also have not received a confirmation email.  I emailed the customer.green-homes-grant@beis.gov.uk email address (from on the application page) this morning with my reference number to try to confirm receipt of application, but the email kept bouncing back as undeliverable.  My third email attempt did not bounce back, but have not yet received a reply. 

Bankingblues

I’ve called three Trustmark firms and all refused to come out saying they don’t know the standards to work to (I.e thickness of loft insulation) or how to claim the money back.  Useless.

jicms

• The article says you don't need someone to come and assess your home to apply but you have to get a quote?!! This doesn't make sense.
• The tradesmen listed when I put in my Kent postcode are all in North London.  I've also tried a Brighton postcode as a test and get the same fitters.  Is this an error or no tradesmen in the south of England?!
• Seems a nightmare as it's not possible to phone "Simply Energy Advice" (waited in queue for 30 mins with no positioning information).  
• I imagine it won't be possible to meet the deadlines.

jicms

Mishomeister said:

The interesting point is, as the goverment is not happy for the vouchers to be used for the old double glazing replacement, but are happy for a brand new double glazed windows to be installed, how would they actually know if the house had the double glazed windows or not before?

It sounds like something open to abuse where the home owner and the tradesman agree to put the tick saying that the house currently hasn't got the double glazing, when in reality it does, as this benefits both the parties.

Any tips on the tradesmen happy to do this!!  We have several 30 year plus drafty double glazing units that need replacing.
Maybe need to find a tradesman that will bodge fit some single glazed glass just for the purposes of the quote.

johan46

New requirements and more details were published in the government websites in the last couple of days.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/green-homes-grant-scheme-register-as-a-certified-tradesperson-or-business

It's pretty clear now that all tradesmen that are part of the scheme must:

A. Have PAS2030 or PAS2035 certifications (costs £ and takes effort to get certified)

B. Get registered to TrustMark (costs ££, annually)

C. Get registered as Green Homes Grant tradesmen with the government

The government will pay the voucher *directly* to tradesmen, and they will only do so if they are on their list. As I mentioned above, the gov is also working with companies to create (perhaps low-cost) trainings in order to get more tradesmen certified to PAS2030, so that they can undertake work.

In general, I doubt many normal tradesmen will bother going through this process in order to get certified. The benefit is probably not there as it'd be relatively low demand and for such small scheme duration, probably doesn't justify the time, effort and potential costs involved.

So that leaves us with

a) scummy 'energy consultancy' companies that are not actually tradesmen, they just facilitate 'getting access to grants' and subcontract the work

b) big retrofit companies that would cost much more than a small shop and are geared towards doing 'whole-house retrofit' after survey etc

All of those above are also so overwhelmed with requests that dont even respond unless you go for large projects like new heat pump.

I really hope more small tradesmen appear in the lists, but i very much doubt it.

In my case, i was already planning to do a ground flour refurbishment in my house in February/March, and this would include insulating some of the floors and walls, underfloor heating, and some double glazing (to replace single glazed windows) along with other works. A lot of these works would be eligible for the grant, but I cannot find anyone to do them within the scheme - or even to quote, in London!