Grants and Help Available To Keep People and Homes Warm

happyfella

With Universal credit being cut, and with fuel prices going up and according to the weather people, we could be having a bad winter, i thought it would be a good idea for people to leave here information on grants available to make homes warmer and other help. There are some well known ones and there are others that no one knows about.

I personally missed out on that shocking green scheme, and everyone i know also missed out. They were awarded the fund but due to cutting the scheme short, suppliers could not keep up with demand.

So, I am wondering, what other help is available out there to help keep homes warmer, like insulation in the loft, wall insullation, and so on

poppy123456

The warm home discount.. https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme some energy supliers have already opened their applications so the sooner you apply the more chance you have of receiving the £140.

If your home doesn't have loft insulation and cavitiy wall insulation then see here. https://www.freeinsulation.co.uk/who-qualifies-insulation-grants/

The cold weather payment starts from 1st November. You'll get £25 for every 7 days that the weather in your area falls 0 degrees and below. For this you need to be claiming certain benefits and looking through previous threads of yours i see you claim Universal Credit. If you've been assessed with the work capability assessment and have LCW or LCWRA then you will qualify for this payment. If you don't have LCW or LCWRA then you won'tt qualify for the payments. https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/eligibility

Other things available here. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/grants-and-benefits-to-help-you-pay-your-energy-bills/

happyfella

woodbine said:

The green home scheme did work, we got an almost £4,000 grant from it, however it did end on 31/03 but the money was handed to local councils who now run the LAD scheme, the govt. also announced a £500 m scheme today via councils to help out poorer people through the winter.

60 people i have spoken to in my area applied and was approved, but none of them got any work done. This was due to lots of suppliers did not want to take part in the scheme and also because the government cut the date short. My daughter who lives in a different area never got it, and she knows over 30 people who applied but the work was never done. It was a complete failure. a lot of money was wasted on admin instead of sorting the scheme out

happyfella

It should have been council led in the first place. The new scheme requires a house to be checked to see how it rates on this energy rating. If it ranks high then you do not get any grant, but if your home is shown to need help then you do get help. This is the way it should have been done in the first place

66Mustang

I just want to say thanks for raising the topic of the warm home discount as it prompted me to do some research. I always just assumed that because I lived at home with my parents, one of whom works and is not on a low income, that we would not be eligible. However, it turns out we can get it.

Hollyblue

@poppy123456 I just found out about this scheme yesterday and intend to apply with my new energy supplier. It will be a great help as last year I just lived in my bed during the winter  as was too scared to put heating on for fear of not being able to pay the bills.

poppy123456

66Mustang said:

I just want to say thanks for raising the topic of the warm home discount as it prompted me to do some research. I always just assumed that because I lived at home with my parents, one of whom works and is not on a low income, that we would not be eligible. However, it turns out we can get it.

Usually you have to be named on the energy account or the partner of the person named on the account. Unless you're a child of 5 or under (which i know you're not)

happyfella

We have applied for a new scheme under the council. They have to come out and assess the rating of your property. When he came out as we have not received the result of the rating yet, he said you need to have all the radiators changed as they were very old and not producing the required heat. he said we need a new system. that is not part of the council led scheme, and this is not something we could afford at the moment. not sure if anyone has replaced their radiators and know how much it would cost, or if there is any help available

66Mustang

poppy123456 said:

66Mustang said:

I just want to say thanks for raising the topic of the warm home discount as it prompted me to do some research. I always just assumed that because I lived at home with my parents, one of whom works and is not on a low income, that we would not be eligible. However, it turns out we can get it.

Usually you have to be named on the energy account or the partner of the person named on the account. Unless you're a child of 5 or under (which i know you're not)

Yeah I read that too. Luckily my parents’ energy company are happy for anyone to be put onto the account as long as they live at the address.

Lisatho11987777

We have a free scheme in wales if you get benefits and some energy suppliers do it for free as well don't know if you get that in England 

veriterc

I have just had a new gas boiler installed (£3000 worth) under the Warmer Homes scheme.  I had an electric boiler (installed by previous owner when the Govt. had some bee-in-the-bonnet about it being Eco-friendly) and it was far too expensive to run.  It took 6 months of form filling and waiting, but finally it's been worth it!

MarkM88

lisathomas50 said:

We have a free scheme in wales if you get benefits and some energy suppliers do it for free as well don't know if you get that in England 

Could you provide a source for people in case they are interested? It’s more helpful. 

calcotti

woodbine said:

The green home scheme did work, ..

For the lucky few that may be true but as a scheme the NAO concluded
"The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme was delivered to an over-ambitious timetable and was not executed to an acceptable standard, significantly limiting its impact on job creation and carbon reduction."
"Many homeowners and installers had a poor experience using the scheme."
https://www.nao.org.uk/press-release/green-homes-grant-voucher-scheme/
https://www.nao.org.uk/report/green-homes-grant/

happyfella

woodbine said:

happyfella said:

We have applied for a new scheme under the council. They have to come out and assess the rating of your property. When he came out as we have not received the result of the rating yet, he said you need to have all the radiators changed as they were very old and not producing the required heat. he said we need a new system. that is not part of the council led scheme, and this is not something we could afford at the moment. not sure if anyone has replaced their radiators and know how much it would cost, or if there is any help available

Rads aren't that expensive we replaced one last year cost £30 IIRC, if your boiler is over 7 years old it might be worth looking into the ECO scheme which is run by the utility companies.

https://eco3.org.uk

Tried going on the website but it does not work. there is an error when you try and submit the enquiry

Tori_Scope

There's some further information and links on this Which? page @happyfella- does that help? 

TheAlien

As a council tenant there's very few options.  I don't qualify for warm home discount through my energy supplier as I'm not on pension credit (the only benefit that they accept on the scheme) and I'm not allowed to make alterations to the property.

I don't have cavity wall insulation because the flat above is private so the council refused to do it, I don't have a loft to insulate, and I have damp and mould in my flat.

And I can't move because I'm on legacy benefits and would face a massive drop in income swapping over to UC.

All in all, I'm sort of stuck, falling between yet more cracks in the system.

happyfella

happyfella said:

woodbine said:

happyfella said:

We have applied for a new scheme under the council. They have to come out and assess the rating of your property. When he came out as we have not received the result of the rating yet, he said you need to have all the radiators changed as they were very old and not producing the required heat. he said we need a new system. that is not part of the council led scheme, and this is not something we could afford at the moment. not sure if anyone has replaced their radiators and know how much it would cost, or if there is any help available

Rads aren't that expensive we replaced one last year cost £30 IIRC, if your boiler is over 7 years old it might be worth looking into the ECO scheme which is run by the utility companies.

https://eco3.org.uk

Tried going on the website but it does not work. there is an error when you try and submit the enquiry

our boiler is only five years old but our radiators are over 20 years old. we have been told we should have eight of them changed, but with the cost of changing them and then the cost of having someone fit them, that is out of our budget at the moment

happyfella

in winter our house gets very cold. we have the heating on from when we get up to when we go to bed. the guy who came out to assess our house said it is down to the old radiators amongst other things

OverlyAnxious

What can go wrong with old radiators?  They're just a vessel for the water, as long as they aren't blocked up I don't see what problem they can cause?  

TheAlien

@woodbine yeah, they said they only offer it to the core group which is pension credit recipients.

TheAlien

woodbine said:

TheAlien said:

@woodbine yeah, they said they only offer it to the core group which is pension credit recipients.

then they may have been wrong ?

Its listed on the link you posted as core group only.  They know I'm disabled as I'm on the priority list for reconnection in the event of a power loss, but they won't offer me the WHD.