ECO Grants are also available for Free Cavity Wall Insulation and Free Loft Insulation if your home has none
You must satisfy ALL 3 parts of the ECO Grant Qualifying Criteria, relating to YOUR HOME, YOUR STATE BENEFITS and YOUR HEATING SYSTEM or INSULATION
You must be resident in England, Wales or Scotland and be either:
A home owner (proof of ownership such as a mortgage statement or a copy of your deeds will be required) OR
A tenant in a privately owned property. You will need a valid tenancy agreement to support this. Different rules apply to Social Housing and Housing Association properties.
You must receive one of the following State Benefits or Tax Credits:
Guaranteed Pension Credit or Savings Credit (ordinary State Pension does not qualify).
Child Tax Credit (Maximum household income thresholds apply.
Working Tax Credit (Maximum household income thresholds apply.
Income-Based Job Seeker’s Allowance (Contribution-Based JSA does not qualify)
Income-Related Employment & Support Allowance (Contribution-Related ESA does not qualify)
Income Support
Universal Credit (Maximum household income thresholds apply)
ECO Grant Qualifying Criteria – Proof of State Benefits
Electronic Check
With your permission your ECO Accredited installer can check that you satisfy ECO Grant Qualifying Criteria electronically from information supplied by the DWP to the Energy Savings Trust.
Manual Check
If you do not consent to an electronic check, you may need to provide your current year’s state benefit award letters to the ECO Accredited Surveyor and copies will be taken to support your application.
If you do not have every page of your state benefit award letter it is likely that your application will not proceed until you have. You should be able to obtain replacement copies of your state benefit award letters from the DWP.
The state benefit award letters need to be in your name, with your current address on and for the current year. If you have recently moved house you will need to obtain new award letters with your new address on.
The manual check may extend the time between application and installation by up to 2 weeks.
3a. Electric Storage Heaters
To qualify for an Affordable Warmth Scheme Storage Heater Grant you must have at least one faulty electric storage heater installed in your home at the time of your application.
3b. Central Heating Boilers
To qualify for an Affordable Warmth Scheme boiler grant you must have an existing gas, LPG or oil central heating boiler which is inefficient and faulty, or is cheaper to replace than repair. If you do not have an existing central heating boiler you will NOT qualify for an Affordable Warmth Scheme boiler grant.
Boilers rated at less than 86% efficiency when manufactured (C rated or worse)
The Affordable Warmth Scheme provides boiler grants to replace old, faulty, inefficient boilers in order to make homes more energy efficient and to reduce heating bills. Your existing boiler must be rated at less than 86% efficient (when it was manufactured) AND be faulty to qualify for an Affordable Warmth Scheme boiler grant.
Boilers rated at 86% or higher efficiency when manufactured (A and B rated)
The Affordable Warmth Scheme also provides funding to repair faulty boilers if they are rated at 86% or more but not many installation companies are happy to carry out such work. Affordable Warmth Scheme funding may be available to replace boilers which are more than 86% efficient if the cost of replacement is less than the cost of repair.
You can check the energy efficiency of your central heating boiler HERE.
ECO Grants are available to replace faulty Gas Boilers, Oil Boilers, LPG Boilers and Solid Fuel Boilers.
Affordable Warmth Scheme boiler grants include the cost of:
Affordable Warmth Scheme funding does not include:
3c. Cavity Wall Insulation
To qualify for an Affordable Warmth Scheme Cavity Wall Insulation Grant your home must have cavity walls which have no insulation installed.
This generally applies to properties built between 1924 and 1983. Before 1924 houses tended to be built with solid walls with no cavity and from 1st January 1983 the requirement for cavity wall insulation to be installed was part of Building Regulations.
Cavity Wall Insulation installed after a property was built
Installing cavity wall insulation after a property was built requires drilling holes between the external brickwork at regular intervals and injecting insulation material into the cavity. These holes will be filled with mortar once the job has been completed but they remain visible.
3d. Loft Insulation
To qualify for an Affordable Warmth Scheme Loft Insulation Grant your home must have a accessible loft which has no insulation installed.