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How to receive a Green Home Grant worth up to £10,000

WATCH: What is the Green Home Grants scheme?

The government has launched a new Green Home Grant (GHG) scheme on Wednesday enabling householders to apply for up to £10,000 worth of environmental improvements.

The £2bn ($2.5bn) initiative will enable homeowners and landlords to claim grants of up to £5,000 to spend on eco-friendly renovations such as installing insulation, fitting an eco-friendly boiler, or installing double glazing. The government will cover two-thirds of the cost of renovations.

Those on a low income can claim the full grant worth up to £10,000.

Here's our guide on how to apply for the scheme:

Eligibility criteria

Only homeowners or residential landlords living in England can apply for a voucher towards energy efficient property improvements.

The grant cannot be used for newly built homes which have not been previously occupied.

The work must be completed and the voucher redeemed by March 2021.

If you are receiving other grants such as the Energy Company Obligation, Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive or Local Authority Delivery Scheme, there may be additional restrictions on what you can apply for under the GHG.

Voucher value

Vouchers will cover two-thirds of the cost of eligible improvements, up to a maximum of £5,000. The low income support scheme will cover 100% of improvement costs up to a maximum value of £10,000.

Landlords are not eligible for low income support.

Improvements allowed

The available measures are split into ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ measures determined by an assessment via the Simply Energy Advice website.

The voucher must be used to install at least one primary measure first.

Improvement to insulation include: solid wall insulation (internal or external), cavity wall insulation, under-floor insulation, loft insulation and roof insulation.

The low carbon heat covered by the voucher are: air source heat pump, ground source heat pump, solar thermal, biomass boiler and hybrid heat pump.

Window and door improvements covered by the scheme are: draught proofing, double or triple glazing and energy efficient replacement doors.

Heating controls and insulation covered by the voucher include: hot water tank thermostat, hot water tank insulation and heating controls.

Roof insulation is one of the measures covered by the green home scheme. Credit: Getty.
Roof insulation is one of the measures covered by the green home scheme. Photo: Getty

Costs covered

The voucher can cover the costs of labour, materials and VAT. Work cannot be completed by the grant recipient, a member of their household or immediate family.

All work covered by the voucher must be completed by a TrustMark-registered installer who is registered for the scheme.

Application process

Recipients must receive at least one quote from a GHG registered installer in order to apply for a voucher.

It is permitted to use more than one installer to install different measures. This can be done via one grant application form, but each measure will need to have a separate quote attached.

Each voucher is only valid for the measure and property applied for.

Work can only begin once the voucher has been issued. Any work that was started before that date cannot be claimed.

Applicants applying under the low-income scheme do not have to pay an installer a deposit unless the cost of the measures is more than £10,000.

How to apply

Check your eligibility for the grant on the government GHG web page here.