Calderdale Council Home Upgrade Grants
If you live in Calderdale and have a home that needs new heating or insulation, but don’t know where to start, then this blog post is for you. As a homeowner, you may be eligible for grants worth thousands of pounds. These grants are intended to improve energy efficiency in homes through the installation, and upgrading, of heating. Reduce your fuel bills and carbon emissions. These all add up over time.
What grant schemes are available to Calderdale residents?
With winter approaching, many of us dread the arrival of our energy bills each month. It’s a cause of concern for many households. If you’re finding your gas and electricity bills hard to manage, check out the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). It could fund home improvements that reduce your energy bills.
ECO isn’t a new government grant scheme. It has been available since 2013 and already over 3 million grants have been installed in homes in England, Scotland and Wales. The ECO scheme will run until 2026 and the current phase is called ECO3. The rules have changed over the years and there are imminent changes due in anticipation of the last phase of the scheme starting on 1 April 2022 which is called ECO4. The final stage of the scheme, ECO4 will run for 4 years until 31 March 2026.
The ECO grant scheme is a national government initiative that obligates energy companies to pay for grants for improvements such as insulation, and heating. Grants can be used on any type of property including rented accommodation, owned homes and housing association properties. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for council house grants under this scheme. If you live in a council property, contact Calderdale Council Housing to discover what help is available and to apply for a council house grant.
To apply for a grant, contact us directly on https://www.ecoproviders.co.uk/contact-us. We will liaise with the funders and council to ensure your application is processed quickly and easily without the hassle of contacting Calderdale Council. These grants can be very generous and can pay for a range of carbon reducing home improvements such as installing insulation or upgrading heating. As well, there are also other options, including energy-reducing initiatives such as SMART meters. Importantly, these grants are widely available in the Calderdale Council area and are available right now.
What free home upgrades can Calderdale residents get?
Grants focus on improving the energy rating of your home. The main grants available include heating upgrades such as boiler grant upgrades (for a limited time only as they are virtually removed from ECO4), first time central heating grants and electric storage heater grants. Insulation grants are also available and they include: loft insulation, wall insulation and underfloor insulation. What you can get will be determined by the existing heating that you currently have at your property. The table below illustrates which grants are available for the main two heating types (gas and electricity).
Grant options for Calderdale residents include:
| Grant Type | Grants for gas properties Your property will be classed as a gas property if your main heating is gas (for example, if your home is heated by a gas boiler or by gas room heaters) | Grants for electric properties Your property will be classed as an electric property if your main heating is electric (for example, if your main source of heating is electric room heaters or electric storage heaters) |
| Boiler grants | Yes | Yes |
| Cavity wall insulation grants | Yes | Yes |
| Electric storage heater grants | No | Yes |
| External wall insulation grants | No | Yes (limited properties qualify) |
| First time central heating | Yes (providing the property hasn’t had central heating before and there isn’t already a boiler and/or radiators at the property) | Yes (providing the property hasn’t had central heating before and there isn’t already a boiler and/or radiators at the property) |
| Internal wall insulation grants | No | Yes |
| Loft insulation | Yes (only available in some areas) | Yes |
| Roof insulation | Yes (only available in some areas) | Yes |
| Underfloor insulation grants | Yes (must be installed alongside a boiler) | Yes |
Who is eligible for grants in Calderdale?
There are two main ways to qualify for ECO grants: through receiving benefits or by meeting Calderdale Council’s eligibility criteria.
If you, or anyone you live with, has received certain benefits, your home will be eligible for the grant.
N.B: You will need to have been in receipt of the benefit within 18 months from the time your home is installed with an energy efficiency measure.
Benefits that would automatically qualify you for the scheme include:
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Child Tax Credit
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – income-based (not contribution-based ESA)
- Income Support
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) – income-based (not contribution-based JSA)
- Pension Guarantee Credit
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Tax Credits (both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- War Pensions Mobility Supplement
- Working Tax Credit
If you qualify for one of these benefits, you’ll be eligible regardless of your income or assets.
You could also be eligible if you claim Child Benefit but, if your household only receives Child Benefit (and no other benefits), there are additional income requirements. (See https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/eco3-child-benefit-self-declaration for details).
The second way to qualify for the Energy Company Obligation is to meet Calderdale Council’s Local Authority Flexible Energy rules. See further details about these rules in section 4 below.
Calderdale Council’s Local Authority Flexible Energy rules
Local Authority Flexible Energy or LA Flex scheme, which is part of the ECO programme, allows more households to apply for energy efficiency grants. This means that you don’t have to claim any benefits to qualify, but you will have to meet Calderdale Council’s rules to be eligible. The Calderdale Council website has full details of the scheme detailed in a Statement of Intent (all Local Authorities are required to publish this document and make it publicly available).
Eligibility Criteria
The two main ways to be eligible for grants (assuming you don’t claim any benefits and are eligible through the criteria detailed in 3 above) are:
having an income less than £21,000, combined with high energy bills. (High energy bills are determined by having an EPC Rating of E, F or G. It is worth noting that, if you have an EPC Rating of D plus a health condition that is made worse by cold, you may also be eligible.
or
having an income defined as low by the NICE guidelines, combined with being vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home. (Examples of people that are vulnerable to the cold home include: those with terminal illness, suppressed immune systems, children under 5 and people over the age of 70.)
(N.B: You must provide 3 months of current account statements as evidence of your household income.)
What properties are eligible for grants?
Grants are available for most property types including:
- Flats
- Houses
- Bungalows
- Maisonettes
- Park homes
Eligibility for funding depends upon the type of property in which you live, the heating you currently have and whether you already have insulation installed. Home owners, private renters and social housing properties are eligible for the scheme but, unfortunately, council properties aren’t eligible for these grants.
The scheme places an emphasis on your property’s existing heating. The type of heating that your property has determines what grants are available to you.
In Calderdale, 86% of properties are heated by mains gas and, unfortunately, properties heated by gas have a lower funding rate. However, an estimated 12% of properties (9,365 homes) in Calderdale have a main heating source of electric.These homes are likely to get very generous funding.
- 968 properties are heated by electric in Brighouse
- 860 properties are heated by electric in Elland
- 5733 properties are heated by electric in Halifax
- 362 properties are heated by electric in Hebden Bridge
- 901 properties are heated by electric in Sowerby Bridge
- 509 properties are heated by electric in Todmorden
The main source of heating for properties on the Government’s Energy Performance Certificate database can be checked on:
https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate
Data obtained from theGovernment’s Energy Performance data for certificates issued up to and including 31 March 2021
How to apply for a grant
Checking if you are eligible and applying for a grant is so easy. All you need to do is complete a very short application form and answer a few questions about your property and your individual circumstances. This will help us identify potential matches with grant funding opportunities.
Complete the application form at https://www.ecoproviders.co.uk/eco3-grant-application-form today.
Frequently asked questions
What you will get?
Your heating could be upgraded with an A-Rated boiler or with high heat retention storage heaters and you could get insulation such as: cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation, loft insulation, room in roof insulation and underfloor insulation. This grant is paid directly to the installer by energy companies, rather than to the applicant directly.
What happens if I move?
The grants are designed to reduce carbon emissions. If you move after receiving a grant, you don’t need to repay the grant as it is a grant and not a loan. You could still be eligible in your new property if it is inefficient and there are no limits to the number of times you can apply (although a property can’t have the same grant installed twice!).
When to apply?
We highly recommend that you apply as soon as possible, especially if you are a home owner and would benefit from a boiler grant. It is anticipated that boiler grants will be removed from the next phase of the scheme.
What happens next?
Fill in the simple form on our website at https://www.ecoproviders.co.uk/contact-us and we will assess the grants available to you and your property. You will hear from us within 48 hours of applying and, if eligible, we will have your grants arranged in no time at all. Be warm and cosy at home, with lower energy bills, in the colder months.
How do I know if I am eligible?
Check your eligibility for this government grant scheme by filling in our short form. We will assess your property and let you know (usually, within an hour or two) what grants are available to you.
This is your chance to make your home more energy efficient! Calderdale Council has decided who can access these energy grants and now it is up to residents to take advantage of this funding. You may qualify for free upgrades — all without having to spend any money upfront, due to these generous grant schemes.