Green Homes Grant

While the scheme covers a range of home improvements, it's not as simple as picking any you're interested in and applying for a voucher for that.

You need to install at least one PRIMARY improvement

To qualify for any financial support, you'll need to install what the Government calls "primary" improvements. These are:

• Insulation, including solid wall, cavity wall, underfloor, loft or roof insulation. Insulation for a park home is also included.
  
• Low-carbon heating, including air-source, ground-source and hybrid heat pumps, solar thermal systems and biomass boilers, which provide renewable ways of heating your home.

If you only want to install primary measures, you're free to have these installed on their own – you don't need to get any secondary measures if you don't want to.

You can then get up to the same amount for SECONDARY improvements

Then if, and only if, you're installing at least one of the primary improvements above, you'll also be able to use the vouchers to install "secondary" measures.

Crucially, you can only receive funding for secondary improvements up to the amount of funding you get for the primary measures. So for example, if you've received £1,000 towards cavity wall insulation, you can only receive a maximum of £1,000 towards any secondary measures.

This is still up to a maximum of £5,000 per household for most, across primary and secondary measures – so if you receive more than £2,500 in funding for your primary improvement, less funding will be available for your secondary measures. 

Secondary improvements include:

• Draughtproofing.
  
• Double or triple glazing, or secondary glazing, but only if you currently have single glazing – it won't cover replacement double glazing.
  
• Energy efficient doors, where you're replacing single-glazed or solid doors installed before 2002.
  
• Heating controls and insulation, including appliance thermostats, hot water tank thermostats, hot water tank insulation, smart-heating controls, zone controls, delayed-start thermostats and thermostatic radiator valves.

See the full list of what's available on the Government's website.

The primary work has to be completed before you can get the funding for any secondary improvements 

While you can apply for vouchers for primary and secondary improvements at the same time, crucially you have to redeem the voucher for the primary work before the secondary work can begin.

If you get the secondary work done, and then the primary work doesn't go ahead or is delayed beyond the deadline, there is a risk you'll miss out on the funding for those secondary measures – so you'd be liable for the full cost yourself.

Quick questions