Capitalise on government grants for energy improvements

Home owners will have the opportunity to make their homes more energy efficient with the help of Government grants.

From midday on Monday 16th March the governments Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) reopens with phase 3 releasing £70m of available grants to households in England and Wales.

William Bell of Strutt & Parker’s Stamford office says; “There are several ways that property owners and tenants can benefit from these grants, from up to £3,750 for installing solid wall insulation to £100 refund for the Green Deal assessment.”

Applicants for grants have to own or live in the property for which they are requesting the funding and there has to have been an EPC or Green Deal Assessment Report completed in the past two years. The improvement needs to be included in the scheme and recommended in the above EPC or GDAR and the work must be carried out by a Green Deal approved provider or installer. Finally, applicants cannot already be benefiting from a sister scheme such as ‘ECO’ or ‘Cash Back’.

William Bell continues, “If you think your property is eligible you need to be prepared, the popularity of the previous releases meant the first £120m was distributed in 6 weeks & the second amount of £24m went in 48 hours!”


However, there are other options available and Government statistics released last month showed that since January 2013 97% of all energy efficiency installations have been through ECO (Energy Companies Obligations) and not the wider advertised Green Deal & GDHIF. ECO places a legal obligation on the big six energy companies to deliver energy efficiency measure to domestic homes.

William Bell concludes “An avenue I am looking to explore for rural estate management clients is to contact the energy supplier directly to arrange a free visit under the ECO provisions. This may progress to improvement works funded wholly through ECO, or where partially funded the Green Deal measures can assist to ensure no capital input is required by the owner or occupier.”