ECO Scheme Heating and Insulation Grants

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are also available from the Great British Insulation Scheme. Click HERE to apply.

If your home has external cavity walls and was built between the 1920s and the 1980s it probably had no cavity wall insulation installed.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants from The Government's ECO Scheme - Dual Measure Grants

Cavity Wall Insulation Grant Application Form

Step 1 of 2

  • 1. Your Details:

  • We need this to confirm that you qualify for a cavity wall insulation grant

For Cavity wall insulation grants from the Great British Insulation Scheme you will need the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate rating) for your home,

You can find the EPC rating for your home HERE if you live in England or Wales and HERE if you live in Scotland.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants - How can I tell if my home has cavity walls?

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are only available for homes which were constructed with external cavity walls which were not insulated at the time of construction and have not been insulated since.

Properties built before 1926 were normally constructed with solid walls which cannot be insulated. Properties built after 1st January 1983 were required under Building Regulations to have insulated cavity walls.

Properties which cannot have cavity wall insulation installed include those with solid walls, either brick or stone, timber framed properties and those with metal cladding.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants - Solid Wall Insulation Grants- Cavity Walls

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – Cavity Walls

Cavity walls are constructed with all of the bricks laid ‘end to end’ in a regular pattern. There is a gap, or cavity, between the external and internal skins of brickwork.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants - Solid Wall Insulation Grants- Solid Wall

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – Solid Walls

Solid walls have some brick courses laid ‘end to end’ and some with the bricks ‘through the wall’ so that you see the ends of the bricks. There is no cavity to insulate.

Cavity wall Insulation Grants - What if I can't see the brickwork?

If the external brickwork on your home has been covered with render or pebble dash, you can tell whether you have cavity walls by measuring the width of the wall from outside to inside.

This will normally be easiest at a door and if the external wall is more than 260 mm thick then it probably has a cavity.  The 260 mm would normally be made up of 100 mm external brick wall, 60 mm cavity and 100 mm internal block work. The external and internal skins are held together with stainless steel wall ties.

If your external walls are less than 260 mm thick or built with stone, your home’s external walls are probably solid.

How can I tell if my home has had cavity wall insulation installed after it was built?

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are not available for householders whose homes have had cavity wall insulation installed since it was built.

If cavity wall insulation has been retro-fitted to your home you will normally see tell-tale drill holes where the insulation was pumped into the cavity.

These holes should have been filled with mortar once the job has been completed.

You can also check the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for your home HERE for England and Wales and HERE for Scotland to see whether it recommends that cavity wall insulation has been installed or not.

In addition, you may also qualify for a Loft Insulation Grant.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants - Drill marks filled with mortar after cavity wall insulation was retro-fitted to a house
Cavity Wall Insulation Grants - Drill marks filled with mortar after cavity wall insulation was retro-fitted to a house
Cavity Wall Insulation Grants FAQs
Free Cavity Wall Insulation Grants - Cavity Wall Insulation Costs

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – Costs and Savings

If your home has external cavity walls but with no cavity wall insulation installed you could be losing up to 35% of the heat you generate through the uninsulated walls.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, for a four bedroom detached house you could save up to £275 per year by installing cavity wall insulation.

This saving is based on a home which has gas central heating so if your heating system uses oil, LPG, coal or electricity (which are all more expensive than gas) you could save even more each year.

Free Survey

We would need to arrange to survey your home to confirm that it does have external cavity walls and that they are not insulated.

A simple test with a boroscope ( a camera inserted into the cavity) will tell whether your wall has cavity wall insulation.

The surveyor will also check the width of the cavity (as narrow cavities should not be insulated) and will check for damp (as this could be worse if the cavity is filled with insulation).

Areas Covered

Affordable Warmth Scheme Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are available throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own scheme.

At the moment we cover most post code areas in England and Scotland, together with a few in Wales.

Please complete the Cavity Wall Insulation Grants Application Form at the top of this page and if we can help we will telephone you to arrange a free survey.

Types of Property

All types of property are eligible for Cavity Wall Insulation Grants but the amount of the grant will differ according to the property type, size, number of bedrooms and current hearing system.

The Affordable Warmth Scheme has two main aims: to help householders reduce their heating bills and to reduce carbon emissions.

The greater the long term savings in carbon emissions which is achieved by installing cavity wall insulation, the greater the grant. This favours larger homes over smaller ones, those with more bedrooms and those with off gas heating systems.

We will not be able to advise householders of the amount of their Cavity Wall Insulation Grants until after the Free Survey.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – Contributions to the cost of installation

Once your free survey has been carried out the surveyor will let you know whether you will need to contribute to the cost of of having cavity wall insulation installed in your home, or not.

In most cases, cavity wall insulation will be installed free of charge but if the ECO grants is not high enough you may be asked to contribute. If at that stage you choose not to, your application will be cancelled it will not cost you anything.

If your house was built in the last 20 years or so, the walls are probably already insulated. To find out whether they are, you can do the following:

  • Ask a registered installer for a borescope inspection. The installer will drill a small hole in your external wall to see if your walls are hollow or filled.
  • Check with your local authority’s building control department.

Your home will be suitable for standard cavity wall insulation if it meets the following criteria:

  • Its external walls are unfilled cavity walls.
  • Your cavity is at least 50mm wide, and is clear of rubble.
  • The masonry or brickwork of your property is in good condition.
  • The walls are not exposed to driving rain.
  • Your house is not at risk of flooding.

You will need an installer to carry out a survey to check that your house is suitable. If so, they will then be able to insulate your walls using mineral wool or polystyrene beads.

If your house has narrow or uneven cavities, is in an exposed site or there is a risk of flooding, then it may be possible to fill the cavity with polyurethane foam. This is more expensive than standard cavity wall insulation but is a particularly effective insulator. You will need a specialist foam insulation installer to survey your home for this, and to carry out the work if suitable.

If you have any damp patches on your internal walls then they should not be insulated until the problem is resolved. Speak to a builder who specialises in damp prevention.

If your home’s external walls are joined to another house, the installer will need to insert a cavity barrier to contain the insulation so your neighbours aren’t affected.

If you live in a flat then you won’t be able to have just your flat insulated – you will usually need to get agreement from everyone to insulate the whole block.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – The Process

Once you have completed the application form we will aim to contact you by telephone very shortly. We will confirm the information entered on the form, fill in any gaps and answer any questions you may have.

Free Survey

If we confirm that you qualify for Cavity Wall Insulation Grants we will allocate your application to a local, qualified and accredited installer. They will normally contact you by the end of the next working day to arrange your free survey.

Installation of CWI

Providing everything is in order the installation company will officially apply for ECO Funds on your behalf and this can take a week or so to be approved. At this stage the installation can be booked in a t a convenient time for you. The whole process from initial application to your Cavity Wall Insulation being installed should be no more than a few weeks.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – Do they have to be repaid?

In a word, no.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants are not loans and they will never have to be repaid.

If you are a home owner you will not have to repay the grant if you sell you home.

What’s more, applying for a grant in one property will not prevent you from successfully applying again in another.

Cavity Wall Insulation Grants – Do I need to receive State Benefits to qualify?

Not necesarily

To qualify for Central Heating Grants, either you or someone living permanently with you, must receive one of the following State Benefits, Tax Credits or Other Allowances. That is, unless you qualify under ECO Flex Rules:

  • Pension Credit – Guarantee Credit
  • Pension Credit – Savings Credit
  • Universal Credit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Working Tax Credit
  • Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Income-Based Job Seeker’s Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Child Benefit (subject to income thresholds)
  • Housing Benefit

ECO Flex Rules

This allows your Local Authority to authorise your application for the central heating grants scheme without the need to receive one of the qualifying benefits above. You still need to complete the form on this page and we will liase with your Local Authority.

CAVITY WALL INSULATION GRANTS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT’S ECO SCHEME AND THE GREAT BRITISH INSULATION SCHEME