A lot of potential customers have been asking about the Green Homes Grant Scheme the government have announced. The Green Home Grant Scheme from the government aims to offer vouchers worth up to £5,000 to homeowners in England, with the goal of making their homes more energy efficient. Eligible homeowners will be able to use the vouchers to help pay for environmentally friendly improvements such as double glazing.
However a major problem is very little has been communicated to companies about how to register for this scheme, or even the criteria that will qualify customers this scheme.
The little we have heard about this going around is that for windows the scheme is going to focus on homes that are upgrading from single to double glazed windows. This implies that the scheme is going to be means-tested, so the homes that need the grant the most get the grant first.
This is obviously not official information yet, however we suspect a lot of people interested in this scheme are simply not going to meet the criteria unfortunately, based on the jobs our customers are currently asking us to undertake.
It is also expected that the scheme will focus heavily on insulation in homes first, with other measures secondary to this.
Whilst the scheme aims to stimulate consumer spending and the economy, in the short term, it is having the opposite effect. Having just come out of lockdown and where cash flow is currently a huge issue for a number of companies it is vital the industry returns to normality as soon as possible.
This scheme has caused a lot of confusion and uncertainty, having the opposite effect with customers placing orders on hold until the government releases more information.
At this stage, all we have been told is a new website will be launched in September for homeowners to apply for a grant and a list of accredited installers will be included on the site for homeowners to choose to carry out their work.
FENSA working with the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) are suggesting to the government homeowners be able to retrospectively apply for a grant from the date the scheme was announced, the 8th July. This way, the return of the industry won’t be delayed by a further two months.
As soon as we have been provided with more information on the scheme we will share it with you.
