You may have seen reported in the news over the weekend that the Green Homes Grant Scheme has been cancelled. It has been confirmed by the government department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) the scheme ceased taking new applications on 31st March at 5pm.
The goals for the scheme were welcomed, initially seeming like a good idea. However it soon became apparent it would be too costly and difficult for most companies to take part in the scheme.
Companies had to become accredited to PAS 2030 standards, in a very short space of time. This was a very costly exercise to undertake, even more so during uncertain times of the COVID19 pandemic where most home improvement companies hadn’t been trading for several months.
In addition the scheme was split into primary and secondary measures, the customer had to install at least one primary measures to qualify for funding:
- Insulation: Solid wall, cavity wall, under-floor, loft, flat roof or room in roof,
- Low carbon heat: Air source heat pump, ground source heat pump or solar thermal
Unfortunately windows and doors were classed as a secondary measure, most companies in our industry never installed any of the primary measures.
What that in mind it will come as no surprise to many that the uptake of the scheme has been low. Gardinia did however have quite a few enquiries about the scheme, out of all these enquiries I don’t think any of the potential customers would have been eligible for the grant regardless, even if we were able to undertake work under the scheme.
