The Government recently announced more details about the new Green Homes Grant, which will provide home-owners with up to £5,000 to make their homes more energy efficient. The new scheme will see the government fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvements of over 600,000 homes, supporting over 100,000 jobs in green construction.
Heat Pumps At The Heart Of Government Plans
Heat pumps are listed as a “first line measure” alongside insulation, which clearly demonstrates the impact a heat pump can have at reducing carbon emissions from a home. Heat pumps have long been central to the Government’s plans for UK housing to reduce carbon emissions towards the “net zero” emissions target. In order to access funding, customers have to install at least one first line measure, since these measures are deemed to make the biggest difference to the energy efficiency of the home.
How To Access The Voucher
To take part in the scheme, providers of heat pumps must be MCS accredited and Trustmark registered. Alto Energy is MCS registered with an excellent reputation – you can check out our reviews here. We are also members of the HIES consumer code, which is an approved Trustmark scheme provider. As with any Government funding, quality is key, which is why it is a condition to the scheme that the installation of the heat pump must be signed off by an MCS registered installer.
Homeowners will need to apply for a voucher online and select Alto Energy on the list of MCS accredited ‘installers’. The scheme will open for applications later this month and will be open until 31st March 2021. We are awaiting final confirmation but we believe customers will have up to 6 months thereafter to complete the installation and for the voucher to still be valid.
What Do I Need To Do?
INSTALLERS
If you are a heating installer and you want your customers to be able to benefit from this scheme, then please get in touch with us right away. Alto Energy works with installation partners and provides an MCS umbrella scheme. By working in partnership with us, we provide a comprehensive MCS service including design, commissioning and the provision of an MCS handover pack for the customer. As an MCS accredited installer, Alto Energy will be a listed provider for the Green Homes Grant once the website goes live later this month.
HOMEOWNERS
We are still awaiting further details on the mechanisms for the vouchers, however we urge you to discuss your projects with us at the earliest stage possible so that we can have quotes prepared. The MCS process means that designs can take a reasonable amount of time, since this is a crucial part of the correct specification of a heat pump. So if you are interested in installing a heat pump in your home, please get in touch with us today.
More Information About The Green Homes Grant
The government are funding up energy efficient home improvement grants for over 600,000, supporting over 100,000 jobs in the sector
Homeowners and landlords can apply for a voucher that funds up to two-thirds of the cost of hiring tradespeople to upgrade the energy performance of their homes – up to a maximum contribution of £5,000. It could help save families up to £600 a year on their energy bills.
Low income and vulnerable households, including park homeowners and those on certain benefits, will be eligible for a grant covering up to 100% of the cost, up to £10,000.
The scheme opens later this month and the closing date is 31st March 2021. We are awaiting final confirmation, but it is expected that homeowners and landlords could have up to 6 months thereafter to complete the work and claim the voucher.
Once the works are agreed, vouchers will start to be issued from the end of September so work can commence.
We await final confirmation, however we expect the scheme to be valid for existing homes only, and will not be valid for new build projects
We await final confirmation, however we expect that the Green Homes Grant will be available as an alternative to the Renewable Heat Incentive, and customers will not be eligible for both