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Return home6. Government-funded schemes and supplier obligations
What are the different government-funded energy efficiency schemes and supplier obligations?
The Scottish Government provides grants to support energy retrofit in domestic properties, including social housing, and privately owned and rented homes. There are also obligations on energy suppliers to fund energy efficiency and heating measures to help alleviate fuel poverty across all tenures.
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The Scottish Government awards funding to local authorities to develop and deliver energy efficiency programmes in areas with high levels of fuel poverty under its Area Based Scheme (ABS). ABS covers whole house improvements, with the main measures provided being external wall insulation (EWI), roof insulation and renewables. Local authorities develop and manage ABS energy efficiency programmes in their areas and procure contractors to carry out the work.
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Warmer Homes Scotland is funded by the Scottish Government to help alleviate fuel poverty by installing heating and energy efficiency measures in the homes of qualifying low income home owners and private tenants. Households apply for the scheme via Home Energy Scotland. The managing agent for the scheme is the organisation Warmworks, who assess householder eligibility for the scheme and procure contractors to deliver appropriate measures.
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This Scottish Government programme invites social housing providers to install zero direct emission heating systems and energy efficiency measures to support the progress towards the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing in their housing stock. The funding is for the retrofit or refurbishment of existing housing stock and is not for new build social housing.
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The Great British Insulation Scheme is a new energy supplier fuel poverty obligation that is administered by Ofgem. It is designed to deliver improvements to the least energy efficient homes in Great Britain to tackle fuel poverty by helping to reduce energy bills. It will predominantly encourage insulation as a means to increase the energy efficiency of a home.
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Under Energy Company Obligation (ECO4), medium and larger energy suppliers are obliged to fund the installation of energy efficiency measures in households.
The obligated energy suppliers work with installers to introduce efficiency measures into homes, such as loft or wall insulation, or renewable energy heating measures.
ECO4 supports lower-income and vulnerable domestic owner-occupiers and private sector tenants that meet benefit eligibility criteria or are declared eligible by local authorities or energy suppliers under a flexible eligibility route (ECO Flex) which uses set criteria on household vulnerability to living in a cold home. The scheme also supports measures in EPC E-G rated social housing and D-G social housing for innovation measures.
