Ten facts about the
Affordable Warmth Scheme
Apply for a boiler grant with the
Affordable Warmth Scheme
- The Affordable Warmth Scheme is part of the Government’s ECO initiative (Energy Company Obligations) which is designed to reduce energy consumption in homes by installing new, efficient gas central heating boilers for householders who meet the scheme’s criteria.
- The Affordable Warmth Scheme started in February 2013 and is scheduled to remain in place until March 2017 or until the money allocated to it runs out.
- Only homeowners and private tenants can apply for assistance from the Affordable Warmth Scheme.
- To qualify for the Affordable Warmth Scheme you need to be in receipt of a means tested State Benefit such as Pension Credit (ordinary state pension does not qualify), Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income Support, Income-related ESA, Income-based JSA or Universal Credit. Other conditions apply to some of these benefits.
- To qualify for a boiler replacement grant with the Affordable Warmth Scheme you need to have a boiler already installed in your home which is faulty and less than 86% efficient or it would cost more to repair than to replace.
- The Affordable Warmth Scheme no longer provides funding for free loft insulation or free cavity wall insulation but other parts of ECO do. Many households may qualify for free loft insulation and free cavity wall insulation without having to receive State Benefits.
- When the Affordable Warmth Scheme was first introduced, boilers were installed free of charge for householders who qualified but funding arrangements changed in January 2015 and now many householders or landlords may need to contribute to the cost.
- Although one of the Affordable Warmth Scheme’s objectives is to reduce fuel poverty, the way that funding is calculated places more emphasis on reducing carbon emissions by reducing the amount of energy used in homes.
- Although the Department of Energy & Climate Change has announced that the Affordable Warmth Scheme would be extended to include the replacement of faulty electric storage heaters, as of November 2015 this has not happened.
- The Affordable Warmth Scheme may provide funding to install new boilers for householders who have faulty, inefficient ones but it doesn’t provide funding for those who have no heating system at all.
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