How are City Energy Network Limited supporting the Green Homes Grant (GHG) Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme
The Government has announced a further update to the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme; Phase 1B – worth £124m – is a new round that is open for bidding until 4th December 2020.
The scheme enables Local Authorities to bid for funding to improve the energy efficiency of low-income households in their area at no cost to the vulnerable, private owner/occupier or council.
We understand this isn’t an easy task given the short timeframes and resource requirements. We’re proactively working with Local Authorities to plan, draft and propose bids on condition that City Energy is the delivery partner for the scheme.
We see this as an excellent opportunity to get money back into local communities to help provide economic recovery, significantly reduce fuel poverty and provide local jobs.
Here is everything you need to know about this update and the changes they have implemented.
In July 2020, the Chancellor announced a £2 billion Green Homes Grant scheme to upgrade homes across England. Under this, £500 million funding will be allocated to Local Authorities through the LAD scheme, to improve the energy efficiency of homes in low-income households, helping reduce fuel poverty, phasing out high carbon fossil fuel heating, and delivering progress towards the UK’s commitment to net zero by 2050.
In the initial launch (Phase 1A), which commenced August 2020 with a delivery deadline of March 2021, BEIS allocated £76 million of funding to 57 Local Authority projects.
In this second phase (1B), the Government are now inviting Local Authorities, working with their local partners, to apply for funding.
The Government plan to allocate a further £300 million through Local Energy Hubs for regional delivery commencing in 2021.
Key policy clarifications and updates between Phase 1A and Phase 1B include:
- EPC D-rated homes can now be included (in addition to E, F and G)
- Installers of energy efficient measures covered by PSD2030:2017 must be certified to PAS2030:2017 for those measures and must install those measures in accordance with the standard – however, the use of PAS2035:2019 is considered best practice
- Local Authorities not using a Trustmark-registered installer will need to declare this as part of their application
- Funding must be targeted at low income households likely to be in fuel poverty, for which Local Authorities can continue to use the criteria of a combined household annual income of no more than £30,000 gross (before housing costs and where benefits are counted towards this figure)
- To reduce barriers to applications based on minimum bid amount, applications are now subject to a minimum bid of £250,000, compared to £500,000 in Phase 1A
Nick Pritchard, Group Development Director at City Energy comments “City Energy are working with councils across England to secure the funding to deliver tailored solutions through community schemes that will reduce fuel poverty, enable economic recovery, provide local jobs and work towards a net zero carbon emissions target”.
If you are a council and would like to utilise this funding, please get in touch today to discuss how we can support you and your private homeowners. Expressions of interest need to be returned to BEIS by 6th November 2020, so we need to collectively act fast.
Call us on 02920 499 183 or email us today.