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Councils to allocate £500m of Green Homes Grant with social landlords eligible
Councils and their partners will be responsible for allocating £500m of the government’s £2bn Green Homes Grant scheme to improve the energy-efficiency of low-income households, including those living in social housing.
Local authorities are being invited to bid for a share of an initial pot of £200m for projects that will be completed by March 2021.
The funding will be available for all tenure types, including private and social landlords, and will be targeted at the least energy-efficient housing – those with an energy performance certificate rating of E or worse.
Households that benefit from the Local Authority Delivery scheme must also have an annual income of no more than £30,000 and local authorities must detail as part of their bids how they will ensure that households meet the eligibility criteria.
A further £300m will be made available in 2020/21 for Local Energy Hubs in England to procure services that support upgrading eligible homes. More details will be provided ahead of the second phase’s launch.
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Last month, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the government was allocating £2bn to a new Green Homes Grant to help it meet its target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to create jobs.
The remaining £1.5bn, which will not be delivered by local authorities, will be made available to homeowners and landlords as vouchers covering at least two-thirds of the cost of work, including the installation of low-carbon heating systems and insulation.
Ministers expect the funding to help pay for upgrades to more than 600,000 homes across England, with vouchers of up to £10,000 available.
A separate £50m Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund has also been announced to help social landlords make improvements to their least energy-efficient stock.
The government confirmed today that tradespeople must register for TrustMark accreditation if they wish to take part in the Green Homes Grant scheme.
Business and energy secretary Alok Sharma said: “Green home improvements will save people money on their energy bills, help to cut carbon emissions, and create new work for many thousands of builders, plumbers and other tradespeople.
“Our TrustMark scheme will guarantee that building work is completed to a high standard by accredited tradespeople, ensuring consumers are fully protected.”
