More residents eligible for free energy upgrades

Many more residents across the Chichester District can now benefit from warmer homes that are cheaper to run, following a change to the eligibility criteria of the Home Upgrade grant scheme.

The maximum income threshold for the grant has been increased to £36,000 a year, expanding the eligible pool of households who can access free energy saving upgrades by nearly 20%. If the household income is under this amount and the home does not use a gas boiler as the main heating system, residents can apply to receive free insulation, air source heat pumps, solar panels, and more. The scheme is open to applications until November 2024, with applications processed on a first come-first served basis.

This grant scheme is available thanks to funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero following a successful bid by a group of 23 local authorities, which included Chichester District Council.

"The average household could be losing hundreds of pounds each year because their property isn't energy efficient, and so we're encouraging people to see whether they could be eligible for free home energy grants to help make their homes warmer and their energy bills cheaper," explained Jonathan Brown, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environmental Strategy at Chichester District Council.

“The Home Upgrade grant scheme is for properties that do not use mains gas for heating, and for those on a low household income or are in receipt of means tested benefits. Households will be eligible for this scheme if the property is mainly heated by electricity (for example, storage heaters, electric boiler, and panel heaters); Oil; Coal; Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG); or solid fuel. The property should have an Energy Performance Rating (EPC) of E, F or G. To find an energy certificate for a property, residents can visit: www.gov.uk/ find-energy-certificate.”

The funding is accessible through the Warmer Homes Programme, which is currently open to applications.

People can visit www. warmerhomes.org.uk to find out if they are eligible, and they can also contact the Warmer Homes team by calling the freephone on 0800 038 5737 or emailing retrofit@warmerhomes. org.uk