Free insulation for tenanted properties

Free insulation for tenanted properties

9:20 AM, 8th April 2013, About 11 years ago 145

Text Size

Free insulation for tenanted propertiesDid you know that landlords can now get free loft, cavity and solid wall insulation and more, especially if your tenants are in receipt of benefits?

The procedure to find out whether your properties qualify for free insulation is simple; it costs just £100 for a survey and if the works go ahead the survey fee is refunded too!

The surveyor will measure the existing insulation in the loft. Cavity wall insulation is a simple drill test and holes are filled again afterwards. The turnaround on insulations is really fast and done by approved insulation teams.

External insulation is available for properties pre 1920 which are of a solid construction. An additional wall is added and then rendered. It looks really smart, adds value to a property and costs the landlord nothing!

There are a lot of misunderstandings amongst landlords surrounding the Green Deal. I don’t profess to being an expert but I do know that a lot of the work which is completed as a result of Green Deal assessments isn’t necessarily paid for with Green Deal funding. There are several grants available too! These are very much dependent upon your tenants’ financial circumstances. Therefore, it is important that your chosen assessors/surveyors and the companies they work with to arrange funding and installations based on their recommendations also obtain comprehensive details of your tenants finances to obtain the most efficient funding. The company we have now partnered with are a FTSE 250 company and employ over 70,000 people. They provide these services to Housing Associations and Councils. They are, therefore, incredibly well placed to advise you and your tenants properly.

The problem with trying to investigate all the different schemes yourself is that you don’t know what YOU don’t know and you don’t know what you local man doesn’t know either!

It’s all very well trying a DIY approach to this but why bother when, under the scheme we have put together, you get the £100 survey fee back when the works are done anyway?

What’s the point in going to a local supplier who has a handful of contacts when you can go to a National company which is bang up to date with all the schemes available?

In terms of the £100 survey fee, I can’t see why some landlords might perceive this is an issue. Why would anybody do the research if they were not indenting to go ahead?

As I see it, the £100 is merely a refundable commitment fee.

Conclusion – if you are serious about improving your property and you want the best advice on all schemes without doing the leg work then pay your £100 to our recommended supplier, get the work done and get your £100 back. SIMPLES!

Advantages to having an assessment and proceeding with works are; increased property values, reducing carbon emissions and happy tenants as the cost of the energy bills will be lower, especially over time as we are all aware that energy costs are rising quickly.

The businesses we have partnered with have surveyors and installers throughout the country which means that customer service is fast and efficient. Remember, your survey fee is refunded when the works proceed.

How to get FREE insulation for tenanted properties

If you would like to know more please complete the form below.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Important note – this article was updated on 8th April 2013. Some of the comments below refer to Michael Wakefield, an insulation specialist who very kindly who provided content in the original article. We have since removed that content and now refer all enquiries to a National supplier which has the resource not only to respond quickly, but also to arrange and complete insulation work in a timely manner no matter where your properties are located.


Share This Article


Comments

4:50 AM, 11th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Hi guys,
I'm part of a green deal provider. You want to be careful about just going ahead with insulation if you feel you may at a later date qualify for a free combi upgrade.
The funding is all based on CO2 savings which means if you insulate your property now and in 1 years time apply for a free combi upgrade or measure under the green deal you will get less funding due to your property obviously retaining more of the heat and thus reducing the CO2 savings.
I would strongly suggest you speak with a GDA Green Deal Assessor (I am not one) who is independent and can later put you in touch with a company like mine who can offer you Insulation, Heating & other measures wither free or blended under the green deal.
These insulation companies are currently mopping up a lot of properties prior to Green Deal really taking off which unfortunately as a consequence will reduce the measures you will be eligible for in the future as Insulation often provides the biggest funding for other measures.
Mark, if you want this explained in more details feel free to email me.
Regards,
Daniel Morgan
Enhance Energy (trading name of Go Solar Energy Solutions LTD)
Green Deal Authorised Provider GDPA239
info@enhanceenergy.co.uk

7:42 AM, 11th April 2013, About 11 years ago

This is why people are so confused. Green deal is a finance loan. Matters not what is installed as long as the golden rule is applied. Boiler replacement and loft insulation is via affordable warmth. Therefore there is zero cost if the tenant hits the criteria. I'm working via a GD provider who if needed will discuss other measures not covered via eco. Eco and gd are to be worked in conjunction not against each other. I'm a dea and qualified surveyor.

11:59 AM, 11th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the reply. Maybe we are miss-understanding each other.

As a GDA, are occupants getting a Green Deal assessment done or are you simply applying a contract agreement with a utility whereby you supply the EPC & proof of benefits in return for ECO funding.

If your doing it under the GD Provider then they can access ECO for both Insulation and Heating. If you only install the Insulation measures under ECO but NOT as a green deal package they will be effected further down the line if they want to apply for a heating measure but most importantly they would not be eligible for the £650 cash back on EWI & other measures.

We as a provider access ECO & GDFC together which means if they occupant is on benefits and the only recommendations are a boiler and insulation this can be fully funded under a green deal plan without a loan by using ECO.

I make the comment about people mopping up insulation work without thinking of consumers long term needs when you have a situation with a boiler fitting the golden rule under the green deal but installers only signing them under ECO direct with a utility. This means consumer misses out on Cash Back & potentially a host of other measures.

If your provider is saying you can only install Insulation under ECO you may want to get in touch with us as ECO currently includes over 40 measures including Solar PV which like you said is NOT a loan.

If your using something like Stroma for lodgements then they will calculate the ECO funding available for each measure. Thats why I'm confused you are only offering insulation under ECO if you are carrying out a Green Deal Assessment, not just the old CESP system.

Kind Regards,
Daniel Morgan
Enhance Energy (trading name of Go Solar Energy Solutions LTD)
Green Deal Authorised Provider GDPA239
info@enhanceenergy.co.uk

12:47 PM, 11th April 2013, About 11 years ago

I forgot to clarify the point on "Green Deal being a loan".

This is a miss-understanding. Green Deal is NOT a loan, it's like an umbrella.

You can finance the measures in a number of ways including 100% ECO funding or/and a loan from the Green Deal Finance Company. Many customers will also self fund their measures which do not fit ECO with cash or a re-mortgage, etc as the 7% APR can seem high if not understood fully.

The key benifit of doing all this under the Green Deal and not under the old CESP/ECO is access to Cash Back, Full Outline of Potential Measures (not cherry picked ones) and also very importanly is the Warranty which we as a provider must offer for the lifetime of the technology.

I'm not against funding options outside the Green Deal in any way as the old CESP helped 1000's of occupants out of fuel poverty but it's important to note ECO is fully available under the green deal package and in my opinion will give occupants a wider range of options compared to existing schemes.

Kind Regards,
Daniel Morgan
Enhance Energy (trading name of Go Solar Energy Solutions LTD)
Green Deal Authorised Provider GDPA239
info@enhanceenergy.co.uk

18:05 PM, 13th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Following reading this its a little bit disappointing to read that you are pushing for larger national contractors in place of local! I would think yourself being an investor would use local labour to suit your needs and to support the areas you invest in?
There are many local contractors out there who have all the information aswell as local knowledge that is required a I believe the after sales will be much better

18:39 PM, 13th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Mark,
I hope this company is better than Mike Wakefield. He contacted me then had his agent closest to Aberdeen contact me. This was in October.He traveled up from Kirriemuir and I showed him my 8 flats and house. He took the details and left forms which I had my tenants complete. The adjoining flats were to be done as well as the roof space was shared. He also looked at the house which requires external insulation, but said he was going on a course in January for this. Once I had all the paperwork, I sent them in, I phoned him and asked when the work could commence and was told that the agent had not been paid for work which had been completed and the government grant was coming to an end so that was the end of it. Does this National Company include Scotland??

23:13 PM, 13th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Brian
The situation with Scotland is completely different with Englan. 2030 aaccreditation differs not allowing and English funder via eco to do any work. I was not considering gd. One I'm not a gda and two gd was not ready and still is not. We as a company have no control on utilities moving goalposts. As you stated I did employ an agent to travel to Aberdeen which is not exactly local. I did everything I could at that time. At that time ewi was going to be considered fully funded. Again the posts moved by the greed of utilities wanting carbon before poverty. You are free to contact a Scottish gda who I'm sure can asist. Whilst we offer a free Qualified survey on ewi we also need to make a living.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

23:14 PM, 13th April 2013, About 11 years ago

@Brian, yes they cover Scotland

@Ian - National companies employ the services of local contractors so I really don't understand your point. You will note from my previous posts that I have introduced Mike Wakefield to the company we now recommend and that he was very grateful. The difficulties that Mike had last year are typical of small businesses with limited contacts. The funding sources that Mike had were withdrawn and he and the small contractor he referred business to all lost out and we ended up with egg on our faces to some extent too. That's why we have chosen not to make the same mistake twice and to work with a business which employs 74,000 people and has contracts with all major funding providers. Around 50% of local independent assessors and installers now have contracts with them too. Green Deal is new and there were bound to be a few hiccups in the transitional process, we live and learn!

23:15 PM, 13th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Ps. I never personally received anything in the way of forms.

0:14 AM, 14th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Away from Marks comments which I respect. I'd like to say several small medium and large companies came unstuck last year and this year upto Feb via Cesp. We are now dealing second tier with utilities which is the same level as marks preferred supplier. We have nearly two hundred ewi jobs ready to go when we feel it's right. All tenants have received letters of communication. Funding is secure under ecos affordable warmth for boiler replacements. 158 will receive EPC's next week followed by installation. It's the landlords choice. But we are active and able to complete all measures available.

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now