Sustainable Warmth - FAQs

If you are successful with your application, a qualified supplier will do an assessment of your house to see what measures could help you use less energy and save money on your bills. These measures could include;

• Insulation to keep your home warm and help cut energy bills
• A new low-carbon heating system
• Heating controls or an energy efficient hot water solution helping you to only use heat when you need to
• Energy efficient lighting which is cheaper to run

To be able to take part in the scheme you need to have an income of less than £30,000.  If there are two or more adults living in your house, your combined income needs to be less than £30,000 after tax reductions. You also need to be living in a low energy efficiency home.  This is decided by the EPC rating of your home and for this scheme, it is mainly homes with an E, F or G rating who will be able to take part.

Yes, if you don’t know what your house's EPC rating is don’t worry, our team can help you with this if you decide to apply. You can look up your EPC rating on the following website https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

The amount of money needed to make your home more energy efficient will depend on what measures you are having installed. For those who use standard heating to heat their homes, this will be a maximum of £10,000. For those who use alternative heating, this could be up to £25,000. The money will directly pay for these improvements, you will not receive a lump sum payment.

Alternative heating means you use oil, LPG, solid fuel heating or an electric only heating system to heat your home. We are particularly keen to hear from those who use this type of heating because this is a very inefficient way to heat a home and making these improvements could lead to significant savings for you.

It costs more to improve the energy efficiency of those who use alternative heating to heat their homes which is why the grant is more for these homes.

Yes, if you rent your home from a landlord you can still apply.  You will need to earn less than £30,000 a year as mentioned above and you and your landlord will both have to agree that the work can take place.  Your landlord will also need to contribute a minimum of 33% towards the cost of the work.

No, the grant is awarded based on the eligibility of the tenant living in the property so if your property is empty you won’t be able to apply.

Yes, you can ask someone else to speak on your behalf. This may be a friend, family member, carer or, in some cases, your landlord.  If you would like to do this, we will need your permission and the contact details of the person applying on your behalf.

If your application is successful you will not have to pay any of the money back as long as the terms of the grant are complied with.  The terms of the grant mean that the owner or tenant of the property where works are taking place will need to sign a document confirming that the works have been completed. You will also need to allow access for any post installation surveys or inspections that are needed.   

How long the work takes to complete will depend on what measures you are having installed in your home. Once decided, your supplier will be able to provide you with an estimate of how long it should take but all works need to be completed by the end of March 2023.

It is a requirement for everyone who installs energy-saving improvements as part of the scheme to be trained and accredited to the highest quality standards so you can be reassured that the work will be good quality.

To apply you can fill in the application form on this link or call us for free on 0808 196 8255

Applications for the Sustainable Warmth Programme close on the 31st December 2022. After you have completed the application form, we will review and contact you to confirm that you are eligible for the scheme and to arrange a home visit from a retrofit assessor. Once this assessment has taken place, we will discuss a house retrofit plan with you; our qualified retrofit assessor will recommend the measures that will bring the biggest and most immediate benefits. We will then follow this up with an in-person survey with the installers at your home and once the measures have been agreed and the contract reviewed, the works can begin.

Yes, to be able to see which measures will help you use less energy and save money we will need to come to your house to assess. All those who do assessments are fully qualified.

Applications to the scheme close on the 31st December. We will then evaluate applications and notify those who are successful. All energy-saving improvements will  be completed by 31st March 2023.

To prove you are eligible for the scheme,  you will need to provide evidence that the combined income of your household is less than £30,000 a year. To do this you may be asked to provide payslips, P60s, benefit letters (if applicable), or bank statements. if no other option is available. We may also need a copy of your mortgage statement (or tenancy agreement) and your council tax bill. 

The funding for these works comes from central government.