Yesterday, the 8th of February 2022, minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan announced a suite of improvements to the current level of retrofit grants available to homeowners.
The €8 billion increase in grant funding is aimed at increasing deep retrofits to 75,000 homes per year by 2026. So what exactly are the changes and how can you avail of the grants?
First of all, there have been a number of changes to the individual single measure grant scheme, Better Energy Homes, run by the sustainable Authority of Ireland, (SEAI). Funding has been increased across several upgrades, for example the grant for a heat pump installation was previously €3,500 and this has now been increased to €6,500, which should cover roughly 50% of the cost of a typical install. Insulation grants have also been increased, external wall insulation of a detached house will now receive an €8,000 grant, an increase of €2,000. There are new grants of up to 80% for cavity wall and attic insulation. These grants can be applied for directly through the SEAI website. If you are applying for a heat pump grant you will need a technical assessment, which we can assist with, please get in touch to discuss.
The other big change is the level of funding available through the National Home Retrofit Scheme. This scheme is run by SEAI and homeowners apply through a One Stop Shop who manages the retrofit project from start to finish. This scheme focuses on whole house deep retrofits to get to a B2 energy rating or better and now offers up to 50% funding, capped at about €35,000 per property, depending on the combination of upgrades. Green loans are also to be made available through the One Stop Shops to fund the remaining cost of the retrofit. This makes deep retrofit much more accessible and an attractive investment.
The final change is the allocation of €109 million to the Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme, which offers free energy upgrades for eligible homeowners who are most at risk of energy poverty. Waiting lists for this scheme have been long in the last few years and the additional funding is aimed at tackling this and opening the scheme to a wider audience.
What ever way you plan to approach your retrofit the first step should be to get a whole house retrofit plan for your home. Our whole house retrofit plan service considers the homeowners priorities both now and in the future and then creates a combination of appropriate energy saving measures that complement each other and lead to maximum energy savings, whether completed all at once or in a number of stages. If you would like to get in touch to discuss your requirements, you can do so here.
