Smart homes – get your application in!

SmartHomes advice line  020 7527 4736  (open Monday to Friday, 9am- 7pm)

The SmartHomes scheme is offering a grant (no repayment required) of up to £6000 for energy efficiency upgrades to your home – exactly the kinds of upgrades we’ve been encouraging to make your home more comfortable and kinder on the environment.

This scheme is available only in north London, thanks to special funding from DECC (the Department for Energy and Climate Change). It’s open to residents of Haringey, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Enfield, and is being organised jointly by those boroughs.

It was a complex scheme to set up, and to be honest, the process was a bit cumbersome and slow for the first homeowners who decided to start the application process.  However, the teams involved have been streamlining and improving the way it works.  We’ve been doing our bit, along with other groups, to provide feedback to the scheme, which could potentially be a model for other parts of the country.

See the SmartHomes website (it’s hosted by Camden on behalf of all participating boroughs)

But meanwhile, a few basic facts:

• up to £6000 of grant funding is available per property
• the grant meets 75% of the cost (so if the total spend is £4000, the funding would be for £3000; if the total spend is £8000 OR MORE, the funding would be for £6000). Green Deal loans are an option for the remainder
• unless you already have an installer in mind, the scheme will link you with one of the fully accredited installers of the InstaGroup list.  Note this list includes RetrofitWorks, a co-operative formed of local small companies with appropriate expertise (MHSG is an advocate member of this group) – and you can request RetrofitWorks at the outset if you wish. PLEASE NOTE – under the scheme, some bona fide independent installers are now contacting householders directly through leaflets etc – but if in doubt, check with the advice line
• if you get to the stage when you are serious about going ahead, one of the scheme’s SmartHomes advisors (an architect specialising in energy retrofit) will offer unbiased advice as part of the package

If you are interested, the first step – other than looking at the website – is to call the SmartHomes advice line  020 7527 4736  (open Monday to Friday, 9am- 7pm)

As ever, our small print applies – this information is provided in good faith and does not constitute a recommendation by any of the organisations or individuals participating in 21stCenturyHomes activities. Like many other local organisations, we are receiving some funding from SmartHomes to cover the costs of the information sessions/activities we are providing to support this council-led initiative.