House Rewire Grant ?

mayfly1

Is there a government grant or loan to enable pensioners to rewire a house with dangerous wiring ?
My house has not been rewired since it was built in 1952 and I know the wiring is decayed and crumbling.
A few years ago the main fuse board caught fire. Luckily, I was around to put it out and turn off the power.
The Green Homes Grant doesn't appear to cover rewiring although I've been told my old wiring is not only dangerous but energy inefficiant.
The average cost seems to be around £3000 which is out of reach for someone on the state pension.
Any ideas/information will be welcome.  I'm starting to sleep with one eye open, just in case !

ic

There might be help in your local area, starter info here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/moving-and-improving-your-home/help-with-home-improvements/

You'll probably need to be on a benefit like pension credit in order to qualify however.

I'm not sure why you'd think a new circuit would be more efficient - the amount of power you use will be connected with the appliances you have powered on in your home - not the wiring.

FreeBear

My local council have grants & loans targeted at home owners with limited financial resources. The loans are secured against the property and some do not need to be repaid until the house is sold. Check you local council to see what they can offer.

Might also be worth contacting AgeUK and see if they can signpost you to any suitable grants/loans.

Homer_home

mayfly1 said:

Is there a government grant or loan to enable pensioners to rewire a house with dangerous wiring ?
My house has not been rewired since it was built in 1952 and I know the wiring is decayed and crumbling.
A few years ago the main fuse board caught fire. Luckily, I was around to put it out and turn off the power.
The Green Homes Grant doesn't appear to cover rewiring although I've been told my old wiring is not only dangerous but energy inefficiant.
The average cost seems to be around £3000 which is out of reach for someone on the state pension.
Any ideas/information will be welcome.  I'm starting to sleep with one eye open, just in case !

Huh?

How can copper wiring possibly be energy ineffecient ?

Who told you that?

Any chance of some pics of your fuse board (wylex) and wiring if done is visible? (Don't take the fuse cover off)

GDB2222

I don’t think we should argue about whether wiring from the 1950s needs replacing. 

dogshome

House built in early 50's probably has cotton/rubber covered cables with a fuse box to match - Both now well past their use-by date.

Davesnave

dogshome said:

House built in early 50's probably has cotton/rubber covered cables with a fuse box to match - Both now well past their use-by date.

Mine was built shortly before that and re-wiring was the first thing I did when I saw the state of the rubber stuff.

Oh, and that was in 1977!