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Government Grants UK FAQs

Government Grants UK – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  • Last updated: October 3, 2024

At Energy Saving Genie, we’re dedicated to helping UK households access government grants that can make homes more energy-efficient. Whether you’re interested in the ECO4 scheme, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) or the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), we’ve got answers to all your questions. Here’s everything you need to know about energy-saving grants in the UK.

All of your frequently asked questions are answered here!

The UK government offers several grants to help households reduce their energy bills and improve home energy efficiency. The main schemes are:

  • The ECO4 scheme, which supports low-income and vulnerable households. Eligible applicants receive a ‘whole-house’ upgrade that includes heating and insulation grants.
  • The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which provides £7,500 towards the installation of a heat pump.
  • The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), which provides one insulation upgrade for eligible households.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme is the current phase of the Energy Company Obligation. It is a government initiative that obligates energy suppliers to fund home upgrades for low-income and vulnerable households and reduce their energy consumption. It provides grants for a wide range of energy-saving measures, including insulation, heating upgrades, and in some cases renewable energy installations. It provides very generous whole home upgrades for eligible homes and households.

You may be eligible for an ECO4 grant if:

  • You receive income-related benefits like Universal Credit, tax credits or Pension Credit.
  • You live in a home with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G or No EPC
  • You qualify under your local council’s ECO Flex criteria, which may take health issues or low income into account.

Use our Free Grant Checker to find out if you qualify.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is a UK government initiative that provides grants for homeowners to upgrade their heating systems. It supports the installation of renewable heating technologies like air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, and biomass boilers.

To qualify for BUS, you must:

  • Be a homeowner or small business property owner in England or Wales.
  • Replace an existing fossil fuel boiler (such as gas or oil) with a renewable heating system like a heat pump.
  • Meet certain insulation standards in your home.

The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is a government initiative aimed at insulating 300,000 homes annually. It includes households that do not qualify for ECO4 but still need help with insulation to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy bills.

GBIS is available to households that:

  • Have an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G (or no EPC but the home requires insulation)
    AND
  • In the general group any household can apply with a Council Tax rating of A-D if in England or A-E if in Scotland or Wales

Applying is easy! Simply use our Free Grant Checker to input your details, and we’ll let you know which government energy grants you qualify for. Once eligible, we’ll guide you through the full application process and help arrange any necessary home improvements.

UK government energy grants can cover a wide variety of energy-saving improvements, including:

  • Loft insulation
  • Cavity wall insulation
  • Roof insulation
  • Solid wall insulation
  • Heat pump installations (under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme)
  • Boiler replacements (for eligible households under ECO4)
  • Solar panel installations (in specific cases with a renewable heating source under ECO4 – in most cases solar is only where the property isn’t connected to mains gas)

Yes, landlords can apply for ECO4, BUS, and GBIS grants if their properties and tenants meet the eligibility criteria. These grants can help landlords improve the energy efficiency of their rental properties, benefiting both tenants and property values but the range of grants available varies by scheme.

In many cases, ECO4 and GBIS grants cover the full cost of the energy-saving improvements. However, for BUS grants there will often be a contribution required as the cost of installing heat pumps exceeds the £7500 grant offered. We’ll always provide upfront information about any potential costs.

The time frame can vary depending on the type of improvement and your circumstances. ECO4 grants can take longer as they upgrade the whole house whereas GBIS grants involve only one insulation installation. From the initial application to the completion of the installation, it typically takes anywhere from a few days to a couple of months.

  • ECO4 targets low-income and vulnerable households and covers a wide range of energy-saving measures.
  • GBIS is designed to fund ONE insulation measures only and includes low-income and vulnerable households but also has a general group.
  • BUS provides grants for renewable heating systems like heat pumps and biomass boilers, helping homeowners replace traditional boilers with more energy-efficient options.

Government grants like ECO4, GBIS, and BUS can help you save money on energy bills, make your home more comfortable, and reduce your carbon footprint. These grants provide funding for vital energy-saving improvements, allowing households to enjoy long-term savings and environmental benefits.

At Energy Saving Genie, we specialise in helping you access government grants in the UK. From checking your eligibility to guiding you through the application process, we’re here to make it simple for you to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Use our Free Grant Checker today to see how we can help you!

Grant application process

All of your frequently asked questions are answered here!

The application process can be very quick, especially if the installer has all the necessary documentation in place. In many cases, once the eligibility checks are done and paperwork is submitted, the process can move along smoothly. To make sure your application is as fast as possible, check out our full guide on how to apply for an ECO grant in 7 simple steps for detailed instructions.

The Ofgem rules say that all grant applicants have to be data matched. This is a process administered by the Energy Saving Genie and in order to progress the application, the Energy Saving Trust Data Match form needs to be completed. Our online version of the consent form is quick and easy to complete and saves you downloading a PDF and manually uploading it.

Installers have to carry out a ‘data match’ to evidence eligibility. They send a data match to the DWP via the Energy Saving Trust and they get either a ‘Matched’ or ‘Unmatched’ result.

This data match has to be requested for all applications whether through benefits, health or income.

Your contract is directly with the installer so you should contact them in the first instance as all arrangements are made directly. Feel free to contact us at any point with questions or queries though, as we’d be very happy to help.

Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) Grants

All of your frequently asked questions are answered here!

ECO4, or the Energy Company Obligation Phase 4, is the latest stage of a UK government scheme designed to help lower-income households improve the energy efficiency of their homes. It provides funding for energy-saving measures like insulation, heating upgrades, and renewable energy installations, helping residents reduce energy bills and lower carbon emissions. ECO4 focuses on supporting households with inefficient properties, particularly those with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E, F, or G.

Energy companies can only spend 15% of their allocation on Band D properties so we are mainly seeing properties with a rating of E, F or G being funded under the scheme.

To be eligible for an ECO4 grant, the property must achieve a minimum increase of in the properties EPC rating. 

  • D Rated properties must be upgraded to a C
  • E Rated properties must be upgraded to a C
  • F Rated properties must be upgraded to a D
  • G Rated properties must be upgraded to a D

There’s more info on this on our blog about Ofgem’s minimum uplift rules.

Through the ECO4 scheme, you can receive grants for a variety of energy-saving measures. The scheme takes a whole house approach so you’ll need inefficient heating to be upgrade alongside insulation. The options (100% funded if the property qualifies) include:

  • Upgrading inefficient heating – such as non-condensing gas boilers, inefficient electric heating systems, gas room heaters, warm air gas systems or solid fuel, LPG or oil heating to efficient heating such as boiler replacements or air source heat pumps. The heating upgrade would be accompanied by Loft, cavity wall, or internal wall insulation – to reduce heat loss.
  • Renewable energy installations – like solar panels (in some cases) for homes with renewable heating sources.
  • Smart heating controls and other energy efficiency technologies – to help manage energy usage more effectively.

ECO4 grants are available to households that meet certain criteria, including:

  • Receiving specific government benefits such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit, or Income Support.
  • Some local councils also use flexible eligibility to support more households that don’t meet the standard criteria but are considered vulnerable to cold homes. This opens the eligibility criteria to vulnerable households, low-income families (where income is less than £31,000 per year) and to households that have health conditions such as asthma, heart or other conditions (most pensioners would qualify!).

In addition to meeting the household criteria the applicant must live in a home with a low EPC rating (typically D, E, F, or G) that has inefficient heating and that requires insulation.

Guarantees and warranties

All of your frequently asked questions are answered here!

When you receive energy-saving measures through government grants like ECO4, GBIS, or the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), most installations come with a manufacturer’s guarantee. The length and coverage of these guarantees depend on the product installed:

  • Boilers typically come with a 2 year guarantee.
  • Heat pumps and renewable energy systems like solar panels often come with up to a 10-25 year guarantee.
  • Insulation (such as cavity wall or loft insulation) usually has a guarantee of up to 25 years.

These guarantees ensure that any faults in the materials or installation are covered for the specified period.

Yes, in many cases, you can extend the guarantee or warranty for certain products. The installer will provide details on the manufacturer’s warranty. Most companies offer extended warranty options for an additional cost. It’s worth considering this if you want longer protection for high-value items like boilers or renewable energy systems. Be sure to ask your installer about available extension plans.

The installation work carried out through government energy grants usually includes installation insurance or warranty-backed insurance to cover you in case of issues with the installation process. This ensures:

  • Workmanship guarantees, typically covering the quality of the installation for up to 2 years.
  • Public liability insurance, which protects you in case of damage to your property during the installation.
  • Insurance backed guarantee on Trustmark data warehouse. This covers you if the registered installer ceases trading or goes out of business.

This insurance offers peace of mind, knowing that you’re protected if anything goes wrong during or after the installation.

Complaints and Issues

All of your frequently asked questions are answered here!

Installations that take place through Government Grant schemes come as standard with installation guarantees along with the normal manufacturers warranties.

The applicants also get an insurance-backed guarantee on the Trustmark Data Warehouse.

There is a complaints for anyone with issues and the process is detailed at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/eco4-complaints-process

Trustmark say the recommended action is to:

  • Put the complaint in writing (by email is fine) so that you have a record of issues raised with the installer – the contract is with the installer so you must contact them directly
  • Include all relevant information so that the installer can address the issue
  • Give the installer a reasonable amount of time to rectify the issue (e.g. 7 days)
  • If the installer doesn’t resolve the installer you can escalate the he issue either internally or with the relevant oversight body (as per the process detailed on the Ofgem site).

Additionally all Registered Installers have to be registered with the Government professional body Trustmark and their complaints process is detailed here.

External Wall Insulation Grants

Unfortunately we aren’t seeing external wall insulation being offered as standard. There is more info about why in our blog on external wall insulation grants.

Instead we are seeing fully-funded applications for internal wall insulation where the walls are insulated from the inside. This is because internal wall insulation is much cheaper to install so the funding is more likely to cover the cost of the installation.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any grants available for replacing windows under the current schemes.

The main UK Government grant schemes focus on insulation, heating upgrades, and renewable energy installations.

As a side note, Ofgem does list windows as a grant the funding doesn’t cover the installation costs so we have seen 0 funded window grants so far.

Window Grants

All of your solar frequently asked questions about window grants are answered here!

Unfortunately, there aren’t any grants available for replacing windows under the current schemes.

The main UK Government grant schemes focus on insulation, heating upgrades, and renewable energy installations.

As a side note, Ofgem does list windows as a grant the funding doesn’t cover the installation costs so we have seen 0 funded window grants so far.

Solar Grants

All of your solar frequently asked questions are answered here!

We haven’t seen any of the major grant schemes offering solar grants on their own as a grant.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) does include solar as part of the ‘whole house’ upgrade but in order to be eligible you’ll need an EPC rating of E, F or G and the heating system in your home will need to, either before the ECO4 project starts or installed as part of the project have efficient heating.

This means in order to qualify for a solar grant your home must be heated by

  • A  heat pump
  • High heat retention electric storage heaters
  • An electric heating system with a SAP responsiveness rating of equal to or greater than 0.8.

This means that solar grants are not permissible in homes heated by mains gas. If you have an efficient heating such as a condensing boiler installed in your property you would not be eligible for solar based on the current Ofgem rules.

Other questions about UK government grants

All of your solar frequently asked questions are answered here!

No unfortunately grants cannot be claimed retrospectively. You need to apply for the grant through an installer that has a contract in place with the funder and/or scheme provider.