House-owners and landlords are being encouraged to take advantage of a new Government energy efficiency grant available for domestic properties.
The grants are part of the Green Deal and are worth up to £7600 per property and are especially aimed at homes with solid brick walls or old gas boilers.
The new Green Deal Home Improvement Fund provides a grant of up to £6000 covering 75% of the cost of either internal or external wall insulation and for those on mains gas, a grant of £1000 is available for replacing an old gas boiler.
Peter Bates, Managing Director of the 80percent Hub, an Ely based not for profit energy saving advice and assessment organisation, welcomed these changes to the Green Deal that has made the process much simpler for home-owners to get an assessment, apply for a voucher and get a qualified installer to do the work. Earlier cashback grants and loans offered within the Green Deal have proved to be very complicated and cumbersome, he said, but under this new scheme getting a proper assessor makes the process simple.
Other improvement measures worth up to £1000 include replacing single-glazed windows, cavity wall insulation, flat roof and floor insulation.
New home buyers who have moved into their houses in the last 12 months will also receive a £500 bonus if they carry out some energy improvement measures.
The starting point to receiving a grant is to get an assessment and e advice from a qualified Green Deal advisor .
Mr Bates said the property assessment was like a car MOT and identified energy efficient improvements that were needed.
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