Grants available for Householders

Grants for Insulation and Heating Upgrades

The availability of grants to help households improve their property’s insulation and heating regularly change, so we recommend you contact us so we can advise you on the latest position and check if you qualify for help.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO), provides grants to fund energy-efficient upgrades to homes, reducing carbon emissions and energy bills. The scheme is now in its fourth round of delivery so it is called ECO4 which will run until 31 March 2026.

ECO4 focuses on improving the least energy efficient homes, as only properties with Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in Bands D-G can be treated and must be raised to minimum requirements of Band C for D and E rated homes and Band D for F and G rated homes.

The scheme also requires a more complete upgrade of those homes and has shifted to a multi-measure, whole house retrofit approach which starts with insulation, but in some situations, can also provide grants for renewables.

You may qualify for an ECO grant if you live in Cornwall and meet the following criteria:

A person living at the address receives any of the following:

  • Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
  • Universal Credit
  • Child Tax Credits
  • Child benefit (eligibility will be based on your household income and number of household occupants (our energy advisers will be able to tell you if you qualify)
  • Working Tax Credit
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
  • Pension Credit Savings Credit
  • Housing Benefit

Don’t worry if your home doesn’t have an EPC, our advisers will be able to tell you if your home is likely to qualify for an ECO4 grant and make a referral to one of Cornwall’s ECO installers.

In December 2022, the Government announced the ECO+ scheme. Due to launch in Summer 2023 until March 2026, it is aimed at those in houses with poor energy efficiency, with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D or below and those in Council Tax bands of A-D. ECO+ will focus mainly on installing low-cost insulation, such as loft insulation and cavity wall insulation.

Grants for low-income households which don’t receive qualifying benefits

It has been recognised that some households, while they don’t meet the main eligibility criteria, should receive this support and so the Local Authority ECO Flexibility scheme (LA ECOFlex) is another route. Cornwall Council works with several installers to enable householders to access ECO4 funding through this route. You can check out the eligibility criteria and see a list of LA EcoFlex installers on Cornwall Council’s website.

Please contact us to see if you could apply to the scheme in Cornwall.

The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) scheme is delivered by Cornwall Council and aims to fund energy efficiency measures on a ‘fabric-first’ (insulation) basis. It is available for households across the whole of Cornwall who are not on the mains gas network and the property must have an EPC of maximum D rating to apply.

If you own your own home and live in it full-time or if you are a private tenant, then your home might be eligible for the scheme. To qualify, your total household income must not exceed £31,000 gross (so including tax and any other deductions) or living in a postcode-exempt area, and someone living in your home must be at risk of poor health.

Please contact us to let us know if you are interested in applying for the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) scheme in Cornwall.

Boiler Grants

Funding is only available under ECO4 to replace 5,000 non-condensing mains gas boilers, so very few households will be able to access boiler grants under the new rules.

Our advice team frequently work to help low income vulnerable householders in Cornwall in crisis situations with no heating or hot water, to access other grants to repair and replace boilers. Please contact us to discuss your situation.

The Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme will provide upfront capital grants. These are to support the installation of heat pumps, and in some circumstances, biomass boilers.

Acting on behalf of property owners, installers can apply for:

  • £5,000 off the cost and installation of a biomass boiler
  • £7,500 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump
  • £7,500 off the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump, including water source heat pumps.

You can find an installer in your area on the MCS website.

If you’d like to know which of these technologies is right for your property, contact our Sustainable Homes Advice Team at email: lowcarbon@cep.org.uk to request a call back.

For information on renewable energy grants, please go to our Futureproof Your Home section.