Affordable Warmth Scheme: Everything You Need To Know

The affordable warmth scheme was created to help people with low incomes improve the energy efficiency of their home.

You do have to be eligible for the scheme which means falling under certain categories such as:

• Claim benefits or live in private housing; you own your house or you rent from a private landlord
• Live in social housing situations

If you fall within those categories, you may be eligible for the affordable warmth scheme which covers a wide variety of energy-saving improvements, some of which, we’ll be discussing in this article.

For a full list of the circumstances under which you may be eligible for the affordable warmth scheme, we would advise going to the Government website for the full list of eligibility items.

There’s a lot of information regarding the subject across the web, but we wanted to give you the one-stop-shop on everything you need to know about the affordable warm scheme. We’ll be looking at;

• What is The Affordable Warmth Scheme?
• What Energy Saving Benefits Are Available?
  • Northern Ireland
  • England, Scotland and Wales
• How Can I Apply For This Scheme?
• Where Can I Find Out More?

So whether you think you may be eligible or not, keep reading to find out more and get the answers you need.

What is The Affordable Warmth Scheme?

The affordable warmth scheme was introduced to help homeowners on low incomes and government benefits, deal with the low energy efficiency within their home. 

Whether that may be improving insulation, ventilation, heating or double glazing, the affordable warmth scheme is there to aid people and improve their overall energy efficiency. This, in turn, helps to increase the energy saving costs and makes it somewhat more manageable to run a home.

If you think you may be eligible for improvements to be carried out on your home, you should find your local council and contact them who should be able to help.

If successful, the process will begin where a technical inspection officer will arrange an appointment to come out to your home to assess the property.

This assessment may take between 30-60 minutes depending on the size of the property and the technical officer will assess what needs to be done to improve the property.

Then, it is essentially waiting to see if you have been awarded a grant aid to make the improvements suggested by the technical inspection offer.

If you have been awarded a grant aid, you should receive an “Approval Pack” which states how much you have been awarded, what work you should do to improve the properties’ energy efficiency, that you are allowed to carry out the work and finally, the date in which the work must be completed by.

Be sure to get written approval for the work to be carried out by the housing executive, this is so that you are fully approved to have work undertaken on your property and once approved, you will have a three-month time frame to ensure that all work is completed.

Failure to do so may result in you losing your grant aid and cause complications in making the suggested improvements going forward.

What Energy Saving Benefits Are Available?

Northern Ireland

It’s important to note that there are a lot more energy improvements to be made if you live in Northern Ireland. 

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you could always ask your local council whether or not you may be eligible for the following energy improvements to be made in your home. 

But for mostly Northern Ireland, these are the main energy improvements that you may be able to get through the affordable warmth scheme:

Insulation, Ventilation and Draught-excluding

• Insulation or loft insulation improvements
• Roof and loft ventilation
• Hot water cylinder jackets
• Cavity wall insulation
• Draught proofing
• Solid wall insulation

Heating

• Replacement boilers (subject to eligibility; a boiler that is 15 years or older, a homeowner who is aged 65 years or older, has a child or receives child benefits and or receives disability living allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP))

Windows

• Single glazed window replacement
• Old double glazing replacement

England, Scotland and Wales

In the rest of the U.K., there are government grants available such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) grant and the Green Deal government grant. 

Two of which we’ve talked about before in great depth. 

Depending on what your living situation is, you may be entitled to a grant to improve your double glazing and other energy-saving improvements.

But specifically, the Green Deal Finance Company offer similar energy improvement benefits as those listed above, ranging from insulation, new and replacement boilers and heating, hot water and lighting improvements.

How Can I Apply For This Scheme?

Coming back to the affordable warmth scheme, the best way to find out if your eligible is to contact your local council and ask them, depending on your area, you may be entitled to grant aid or some type of funding to improve the overall energy of your home.

But before you call them, ask yourself if you are on a low income (usually a household income of £20,000 or lower), are claiming any form of government benefits or meet the criteria of eligibility. 

If you don’t match what’s required for these grants and funding sources for improved energy-efficiency, it’s doubtful that you will be eligible.

If you’re still unsure, find your local council and give them a call.

Where Can I Find Out More?

To find out more information about the affordable warmth scheme, head on over to the Government website where you can see the full list of what is required to be able to be eligible for the scheme.

Then, take a look at our grants for windows and doors from government article where we explain, in-depth, the different schemes that are available throughout the U.K.

And if you think you may be eligible, contact your local council to find out more information, or contact the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) or the Green Deal Finance Company for more information.