Written by Kate Hallewell
Make your home warm and comfortable this winter with insulation or installation. Apply now for a grant from the Dartford Borough Council to help get you out of that cold house!
The council has published their set of rules which will allow residents to apply for grants. If you’re interested in installing insulation or upgrading your heating on your property, these new guidelines may be relevant to you!
1. What is Local Authority Flexible Energy or LA Flex?
The government wants to help everyone with LA Flex. you can now apply for a grant that will help lower-income families pay their energy bills by saving money on less heating costs. Apply today!
The Government wants to help vulnerable and low-income households this winter, so they’ve obligated power suppliers to provide funding for energy efficiency. Dartford Borough Council has published their eligibility rules on the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) grant scheme in its Statement of Intent document which enables residents to apply for grants. This post explains how you can be eligible too!
2. What grants are available?
The types of grants available to residents living in the Dartford Borough Council area include:
- Boiler grants
- Cavity wall insulation grants
- External wall insulation grants
- First time central heating grants
- Internal wall insulation grants
- Loft Insulation
- Roof Insulation
- Smart thermostat grants
- Underfloor insulation grants
Boiler grants are expected to be removed from the grant scheme in the next phase so you should apply for this grant as soon as possible.
3. Who is eligible for grants?
The program is a helpful and informative resource for homeowners, renters, and those living in housing associations. The easiest way to see if you are eligible is to use our eligibility checker here.
Eligibility
There are 6 ways to qualify for a grant:
1. Receiving a qualifying benefit
2. Receiving Child Benefit and meeting income rules
3. Income-based eligibility (for households that earn less than £31,000 per year)
4. Vulnerable eligibility
5. Health-related eligibility
6. Bespoke targeting
This route to eligibility applies where a member of the household receives or has received a 'qualifying benefit'. If the benefit isn't a current claim (for example for households where they have gone back to work after the pandemic) providing the benefit has been claimed at some point within the last 12 months, the household will still be eligible for a grant.
Qualifying benefits include:
- Child Tax Credit
- Employment & Support Allowance (Income Based) - Income Support
- Housing Benefit
- Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based)
- Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
- Pension Credit Savings Credit
- Universal Credit
- Working Tax Credit
Note if you receive any of the following benefits you could qualify later in the scheme (or through the ECO4 Flex routes). We advise anyone claiming the following benefits to register for updates so you are the first to know when these benefits are accepted.
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer's Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- War Pensions Mobility Supplement
If you receive Child Benefit you could be eligible for the scheme but unlike the qualifying benefits above they would need to meet an additional income criteria.
The Child Benefit income criteria depends on the number of children in the household and also whether the claim is a single or joint claim.
The income limits are as follows:
Single parents
1 Child – £19,900
2 Children – £24,800
3 Children – £29,600
4+ Children – £34,500
Parents in a couple
1 Child – £27,500
2 Children – £32,300
3 Children – £37,200
4+ Children – £42,000
(figures updated to Ofgem’s Administration Consultation released on 13 June 2022)
If you are eligible through the Child Benefit route you should apply as soon as you can. The Government's Green Homes Grant excluded Child Benefit recipients so potentially this eligibility route could be removed later in the the scheme.
To be eligible through the income-based route your annual household income will need to be under £31,000. You will need to provide evidence such as bank statements and income information to confirm eligibility.
This is an ECO4 Flex route so it requires the applicants council to have published a Statement of Intent and to issue eligibility declarations.
Vulnerable people can access grants if they meet two of the following criteria (1 & 3 can’t be used together):
1. Lives in a Lower Super Output Area
2. Receives Council Tax Rebate (excluding for single person discounts)
3. Householder has a disability, mental health condition, is over 65, school children or under 16 and pregnant women.
4. Receives free school meals due to a low income
5. Supported by a Council scheme described in a Statement of Intent
6. Households referred by a Citizen’s advice as struggling to pay gas and electricity bills
7. Households in energy debt
A medical practitioner will need to complete a referral form to confirm eligibility.
This is an ECO4 Flex route so it requires the applicants council to have published a Statement of Intent and to issue eligibility declarations.
People with health conditions that are made worse by living in a cold home qualify.
These include:
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Immunosuppressed
- Mobility issues
- Respiratory conditions
A medical practitioner will need to complete a referral form to confirm eligibility.
This is an ECO4 Flex route so it requires the applicants council to have published a Statement of Intent and to issue eligibility declarations.
Installers can target specific groups of people living in fuel poverty. Installers will approach you if your property is eligible through this route.
Dartford Borough Council
If you DON'T claim benefits, the criteria for identifying households in fuel poverty in Dartford Borough Council are as follows:
Criteria for Dartford Borough Council eligible households
1. Fuel Poverty
- Households not in receipt of income-related benefit with an income of less than
£30,000 after paying for rent and mortgage will be identified as ‘low income’
2. Low-Income
- Housing benefit
- Council tax reduction/support (other than single occupancy)
- Child tax credit – no income cap
- Working tax credit – no income cap
- Universal credit – no income cap
- Pension credit (savings credit)
- Carer’s allowance – for the household in which the person who is being cared for lives
- Industrial injuries disablement benefits
- Severe disablement allowance
- War pensions mobility supplement
- Armed forces independence payment
- Constant attendance allowance
- Living in Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA) in Dartford
- Is in receipt of disability living allowance, personal independence payment,
incapacity benefit or attendance allowance OR - Is on the Energy Companies’ Priority Service register OR
- Has a disability blue badge OR
- Has an invitation for free flu jab for health reasons OR
- Core group Warm Home Discount recipient
| BR8 |
| DA1 |
| DA10 |
| DA11 |
| DA13 |
| DA14 |
| DA17 |
| DA2 |
| DA3 |
| DA4 |
| DA5 |
| DA9 |
| Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley |
| West Hill |
| Town |
| Brent |
| Newtown |
| Princes |
| Darenth |
| Burnham |
| Heath |
| Joyden's Wood |
| Temple Hill |
| Bridge |
| Swanscombe |
| Ebbsfleet |
| Greenhithe & Knockhall |
| Longfield, New Barn & Southfleet |
| Stone House |
| Stone Castle |
| Bean & Village Park |
| Maypole & Leyton Cross |
Eligibility does not guarantee funding. For full details see the full Statement of Intent.
5. How much could you get?
The thermal insulation you need for your home, and even the amount of money available in grant funding to install it all depends on a range of factors. One big consideration is how well heated your property currently is as Ofgem rules place an emphasis on existing or previous heating systems. Heating and other key information about your homes such as wall type, length of occupancy and more are used to calculate lifetime savings which give installer’s funding for installing insulations if they’re available in that area.
The grants are currently available as follows (subject to survey and meeting eligibility rules):
- Boiler grants - this could give you 25% - 75% off the RRP of installing a new boiler
- Cavity wall insulation grants - up to 100% of the installation cost
- External wall insulation grants - up to 100% of the installation cost (only available where electric is the main heating source)
- First time central heating grants - 50-100% of the installation cost (propeties must not have previously had central heating)
- Internal wall insulation grants- up to 100% of the installation cost (only available where electric is the main heating source)
- Loft Insulation - up to 100% of the installation cost (usually only available where electric is the main heating source but in some areas loft insulation is available for gas properties)
- Roof Insulation - up to 100% of the installation cost (usually only available where electric is the main heating source but in some areas roof insulation is available for gas properties where it is installed alongside a new boiler)
- Smart thermostat grants - up to 100% of the cost but only available through some installers
- Underfloor insulation grants - up to 100% of the installation cost but usually only installed alongside another measure like a boiler upgrade
The grant will be directly given to the installer and because it is a one-time payment, you do not have to repay anything. If there are contributions that need paying upfront for installation costs then they will quote you beforehand so that before proceeding with any work on your home!
Dartford Borough Council flexible energy (LA Flex) rules are detailed in this Statement of Intent
A full list of all local authority flexible energy rules can be found on the gov.uk website
Apply for a grant
Check eligibility for grants
Fill in the short form to see if you are eligible for Government grants.