Figures from the Department for Energy and Net Zero indicate that only 4,648 households so far have taken advantage of the government’s ongoing Great British Housing Insulation Scheme.
This is less than 2% of the target of 300,000 households by March 2026.
Katharine Allison of Independent Advisor Windows - the company which has analysed the government data - says: “Improving the energy efficiency of your home is a surefire way to lower your heating costs and improve the general comfort of your home. One way to do so is to ensure that your home is properly insulated through loft and cavity insulation and have your windows glazed.
“In terms of window glazing, double or triple glazing is the most energy-efficient; these are windows with more than one pane of glass. Anything less simply won’t be as effective at keeping heat in your home. Other options are installing heavy thermal curtains on your windows as an extra layer of insulation for those cold winter nights.
“Other benefits of having multi-glazed windows are that there will be fewer draughts when hot air escapes, less outside noise will be able to penetrate your home, and there will be reduced condensation, which can help prevent mould.”
However, very few of the possible beneficiaries of the Great British Housing Insulation Scheme have taken advantage of it.
The North West of England, Yorkshire and The Humber, and North East of England were those regions which took most advantage of the scheme.
The scheme, administered by the energy regulator Ofgem, is open to property owners including landlords, and to tenants with permission from their landlord – this includes if the property is owned by a social housing provider or management company.
Eligible households are mostly those with properties that have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D to G, and which are within council tax bands A to D in England and A to E in Scotland and Wales.
To qualify for the scheme, your property must require energy-efficiency upgrades such as cavity wall insulation. The scheme will deliver one insulation measure per home, and upgrades are decided through a retrofit assessment which looks at how making changes to your property could cut energy use and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The scheme specifically encourages low-income applicants receiving Child Benefit, Pension Guarantee Credit, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits, Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, or Pension Credit Saving Credit.
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One of my long-term tenants had to give up work due to poor health so I thought I would finally be able to receive some of the myriad of freebies that are allegedly available.
However, when I looked into it leasehold flats were excluded. What type of housing do they think the average UC recipient lives in?
Another of the great reset climate scam on another planet agenda 21 utter wastes of time and money , what a surprise !
We have global warming now when we were freezing in the 50’s & 60’s we didn’t have Double Glazing, Central Heating or huge numbers of over weight people hardly able to walk I think people are going soft too molley cuddled.
Heavy duty curtains are very good depending on how they are fitter.
I fitted them including replacing the window boards to extend 120 mm into the room due to the fact the Radiators are virtually always under the windows and hang the curtains to fit neatly above on quality curtain track, not curtain poles for great big rings too far off the walls to be effective for heat retention.
Lo and behold if Tenants didn’t change them to Curtain poles great big eye rings and long Curtains cloaking in the Radiator blocking the heat to the room, Dumlin don’t seem have much else, what would I know.
You could have written it into the contract that the curtain arrangement must not be altered because appropriate insulation is provided by the way that the curtains are currently fitted. However, they probably would have ignored the clause.
There is no way I would allow some cowboy 🤠 to retro fit cavity wall insulation into one of my properties, and introduce damp where it never was . In terms of loft insulation ….. who doesn’t already have it 🤷♂️. A pointless scheme.
The people most likely to qualify for Govt freebies are the ones least likely to claim them! Just another wasteful Govt scheme!
My days in the circus as a dog jumping through burning rings of fire are well and truly over. Wouldn't want the tenants claim or councils money.
These grants are always a waste of time ,effort and money
I thought I might get something as we have EPC D, Band C Council tax and full benefit tenant. But no, I have already done the loft and a modern combi boiler but not solid wall insulation which is the expensive (for that read uneconomic) option to get up to EPC C. Nothing else practical to do.
So, if EPC C comes back it will be sold and my single mum tenant whose 12 year old daughter has only ever lived in that house will be looking for somewhere else to live. I will have no choice.
It's good in theory.... until you try and find an Installer, outside of London, Manchester etc they simply don't exist and the exclusions are a lot longer than implied in this article.. Additionally, not many tenants want to tell you about their benefit claims and income.
I've applied for many houses with tenants on benefits and low epc's. Utter waste of time. Too many caveats and hardly any contractors. The odd company said they would look at internal wall insulation. We would lose 100mm plus inside and lots of disruption to tenants. Even the companies were reluctant to recommend it. What is needed is external wall insulation., but nobody wants to do it. To fill in government forms takes almost a days work as well.
I done inside insulation on a 225 mm solid brick wall house but it was vacant and needed refurbishment anyway.
A complete gut out you know where its going not leave this or that replace all its quicker.
Complete New Electrics, plumbing, heating etc, you lose 50 mm of your room don’t worry about it.
I used the opportunity to remove the redundant chimney breasts which more than made up for the space that I lost and able to make better arrangement of the furniture lay out etc.
I did let it too cheaply at £1650.00 pm some 2 bed conventional Flats are now charging that. The next house bar one similar house not refurbished is charging £2300.00 pm to Benefit Tenants.
On the plus side my Tenants keeps it spotless and the money is transferred promptly and no need to chase.
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