Free Governent Funded Grants For Your Home!

AstroM

For those who don't qualify for grants towards loft or cavity wall insulation (due to not being on one benefit or another) it may well be worth contacting your local council to see if they have any schemes available.

Our council was offering loft insulation and cavity wall insulation for £159 each with the added benefit of being able to pay if off, interest free over 10 or 20 months

chriserenity

Yep, councils are a good bet. Another good place to try is the big gas/electricity suppliers - they have to provide funding towards energy efficiency improvements by law if they have over x amount of customers.

When thinking of energy efficiency improvements I always try to make people consider the side benefits of doing the work. E.g. secondary glazing particularly reduces traffic noise considerably, low energy light bulbs don't burn the lampshades like incandescents do :rotfl:

slenderkitten

i read somewhere that people who live in social housing ie housing association and council properties are not eligible only HOMEOWNERS is this true?

RAS

Hi People in social housing will have their insulation done by their landlord as a rule.

slenderkitten

thus social housing is not included in this scheme so i couldn't apply for it.

chriserenity

slenderkitten wrote: »

thus social housing is not included in this scheme so i couldn't apply for it.

Most LAs have had alot of money in the past few years to do something about the energy efficiency of their housing stock. Locally (Doncaster), LA and ex-LA housing is generally more efficient than equivalent private landlorded property - e.g. next village over from me is all pretty old housing and so nearly all solid walled. The LA went round their entire stock in the village and clad the externals with high spec insulation but I've yet to see it in a single private landlorded property.

Contact the housing association and ask to see the EPC of the next property you're moving to - it will tell you what they've done to the property so far energy efficiency wise and also what they could do to it. You can then ask them when they plan to implement the 'cost effective' measures.

jamtart6

we're in the process of buying and the house has single glazing, poor insulations, no cavity wall etc. so wondered how beneficial it would be to insulate and double glaze the house before we moved in?

chriserenity

jamtart6 wrote: »

we're in the process of buying and the house has single glazing, poor insulations, no cavity wall etc. so wondered how beneficial it would be to insulate and double glaze the house before we moved in?

It would be beneficial yes given you'd be replacing windows in the dead of winter

You can't know how beneficial it would be until you've seen the Energy Performance Certificate which is available for free for you in the Home Information Pack. Ask the agent/seller for the URL and password for the HIP and have a good read of it.

Most important - don't start decorating until you've done the energy efficiency improvements - especially the solid wall insulation if applying internally and the floor insulation if its suspended/solid but of poor quality.

Best to go back to the energy assessor who produced the EPC - their contact details are on the report.

Good luck with your new place!

chriserenity

Even if the property doesn't have a HIP (some on the market still don't have them) it will have an EPC - by law!

slenderkitten

lol this is housing association we are talking about some including mine dont care, been saying for 3 years that they will be putting in double glazing, new kitchen, new boilers, new bathroom, nothing has been done.

as i said social housing renters cannot apply for the grant.