Do pensioners qualify for boiler, heating and insulation grants?

Last updated date: April 19, 2024

Many pensioners are struggling with the cost of living, and yet they are often overlooked. In fact, many pensioners are missing out on free energy saving grants and many don’t know that they may qualify for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme!

In this blog post we’ll explore how pensioners can qualify for free energy saving grants.

1. Do pensioners qualify for free energy saving grants?

I’ll get straight to the point. Yes they do! In actual fact most pensioners will qualify for the Government’s Energy Company Obligation grant scheme through either receiving Pension Credit or through having health issues or being vulnerable.

We are urging pensioners and their family members to check if they are entitled to heating and heating insulation grants. We are asking everyone to check now in case there are rule changes and in advance of lengthy waits with installers.

Pensioners, whether they are a home owner or a renter, are eligible for home improvement grants through government-backed, funded scheme called the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. The £4 billion scheme has been designed to upgrade homes throughout the UK and includes grants for home insulation such as loft, underfloor or wall insulation. It also provides grants for repairing, replacing or installing energy-efficient heating.

The scheme is designed to cut energy bills for the lowest income homes in England, Scotland and Wales through upgrading heating systems or through the installation of insulation. It also reduces carbon emissions which helps tackle climate change too!

Pensioners that claim either Pension Credit (Guarantee Element or Savings Credit) are fast-tracked but even if they don’t claim benefits the majority of pensioners would qualify for grants through the ‘health’, ‘vulnerable’ or ‘income-based’ criteria. The 6 ways to qualify for grants are detailed here.

The types of grants available to pensioners include:

Heating upgrade grants, are available for people who have old, inefficient heating systems. There is also help with the cost of complete central heating installing that includes fitting radiators, but only if the property has never had central heating.
Insulation grants, which are available for people who want to install loft insulation, underfloor or wall insulation.
Smart thermostat grants are available in some areas and they'll cover the installation of smart thermostats that can help you to control your heating from your devices and manage energy usage.

For more information on the different types of grants, see our page on the energy company obligation scheme or jump straight in and check eligibility and apply in 60 seconds or less with our free grant checker. Our website also has lots of other useful advice regarding home improvement and saving money on your bills and reducing carbon emissions.

2. How do you qualify for free energy saving measures as a pensioner?

There are three main parts to eligibility for ECO grants:

Property eligibility + Household eligibility + Grant suitability and availability

Property eligibility

You will need to live in a home that is inefficient and has an EPC rating of E, F or G. We are expecting band D properties to be accepted later in the scheme. If you don’t currently have an EPC don’t get one as the installer will arrange the EPC as part of a free energy assessment.

Household eligibility

You (or a member of your household) will need to either receive benefits or have a health condition, be classed as vulnerable or have an annual household income of less than £31,000.

Grant suitability and availability

In addition to the property and household being eligible there need to be grants suitable for the home being upgraded. There are a range of rules (set by Government and administered by Ofgem) but our free grant checker will assess which grants are available to you.

Eligibility through claiming benefits:

If you receive any of the following benefits you will be eligible for the ECO scheme, regardless of household income and the assets that you own:

Child Tax Credit
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - income-based (not contribution-based ESA)
Housing Benefit
Income Support
Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - income-based (not contribution-based JSA)
Pension Guarantee Credit
Pension Savings Credit
Tax Credits (both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit)
Universal Credit
Working Tax Credit

When calculating your household income you should include all income such as your state pension, pension income, state benefits, guarantee credit, pension credit or savings credit but you don’t need to include other grants such as the winter fuel payment or cold weather payment.

Please bear in mind that the rules that apply where you don’t claim benefits are not rigid. They are set by the local authority as part of their flexible energy rules, sometimes referred to as LA Flex.

So if you don’t claim benefits but if your household has an income of less than £25,000 a year, you might qualify for grants. You can use the eligibility checker to find out.

Whether you need a new boiler, to upgrade your electric room heaters or electric storage heaters, insulation or draught proofing, there will hopefully be something to suit your needs.

If you don’t know what rating your property has:

The EPC for your property will contain:

3. What grants are available to pensioners?

There are many grants for pensioners. They depend on what you have in your home now and what is needed to make your home more efficient and reduce your energy bills.

To be eligible for the central heating grant the heating at your property would need to be one of the following:

Electric fan heaters
Electric panel heaters
Electric room heaters
Electric storage heaters
Gas room heaters*
LPG room heaters
No heating at all
Oil room heaters
Solid fuel heating
Wood/biomass heaters

* The scheme rules place an emphasis on existing heating so if this is the main heating at your property you might have to pay towards the installation, but it is still likely to be subsidised.

First time central heating grants are available in areas both with, and without gas. If your property doesn’t have a gas line or gas meter, there are funding schemes that will pay for that and we can help you apply for the funded gas line. If there isn’t gas in your area, central heating can still be installed at your property; however rather than being connected to mains gas, the heating system will be connected to a tank, such as a calor gas tank, that will need to be refilled every so often.

To be eligible for a storage heater grant the heating at your property would need to be one of the following:

Electric fan heaters
Electric panel heaters
Electric room heaters
Electric storage heaters (in come cases there are grants where the existing heating is a storage heater providing they are old and inefficient)*
LPG room heaters
No heating at all
Oil room heaters
Solid fuel heating
Wood/biomass heaters

The scheme rules place an emphasis on existing heating so if this is the main heating at your property you might have to pay towards the installation but it is still likely to be subsidised.

To be eligible for a free boiler grant or central heating installation your existing needs to be one of the following:

The scheme rules place an emphasis on existing heating and if the property is eligible (not all are) the installation will be 100% free.

To be eligible for a roof or room in roof insulation grant your existing heating. needs to be one of the following:

The scheme rules place an emphasis on existing heating. Electric heated properties receive the highest funding for underfloor insulation. If your property is heated by a mains gas boiler or gas room heaters underfloor insulation is usually on funded when installed alongside a boiler (sometimes called a dual measure).

These grants are available to home owners, private renters and social housing tenants. Landlords can benefit from them too, but the tenant needs to apply for the grant and meet the income rules or receive the benefits. The exception is boiler grants, as boiler grants are only available to pensioners who own their home.

3. How much money could pensioners save by upgrading heating systems or by installing insulation?

A lot of pensioners are suffering in cold homes around the UK because they can’t afford to upgrade their heating systems or install insulation. These grants are available for these upgrades, but not everyone knows how much it costs and what grants might be available.

It depends on a number of factors including:

– the size of the property

– the construction of the property

– existing heating at the property

– insulation at the property

When you submit your application for a grant you’ll be given a rough estimate of savings that can be achieved. You can also check the EPC for your property for average energy savings estimates. Installers are often very knowledgeable on what the impact of upgrades will be.

4. How much money could pensioners get if they apply for a grant?

The amount of money you could get depends on a few factors:

* The size of your property

* How well insulated it is

* Whether you have any heating already installed and if you do, what type of heating there is at the property.

The best way to find out how much you could get is to see if you qualify. If you do, you can submit your application. When submitting an application for a grant, the installer will assess the property and give you an indication of what grants you could get and what they would cost with, and without, the grant. Installers will offer you a free no obligation on site survey to assess the options and they should explain them to you fully. In some cases installers are carrying out virtual surveys. If you’d prefer that option be sure to mention it to the installer when you apply.

5. Why is it important to take advantage of these grants?

It’s important to take advantage of these grants as soon as you can as they won’t be around forever. If you miss the deadline, or if the rules change, there is no guarantee that you will get another opportunity to apply for them.

– The grant scheme is being administered by Ofgem on behalf of the government and has been designed to improve energy efficiency of homes in the UK and reduce carbon emissions.

– The scheme is due to run until 31 March 2026 but the funding rules can change at any time.

– There are no restrictions on the number of grants that you can apply for, or how many times your home qualifies, but you can’t apply for the same measure twice.

– The application process is really easy and takes less than a minute to see if you meet the eligibility criteria for these government grants.

Don’t wait to apply for these grants as the rules can change at any time. There is currently over £4 billion up for grabs and, if you qualify, you could be eligible for thousands of pounds of free home improvements.

The money you save by upgrading your heating system or installing insulation could make all the difference in paying off that new appliance or making sure you have enough on hand when winter comes around again – so don’t wait any longer.