Minor works grant - energy efficiency

The minor works grant for energy efficiency is a discretionary grant for insulation work which is available to owner-occupiers of properties in Council Tax bands A, B or C and to landlords.

• Who is eligible?
• How do I make an application?
• Warm Front top-up
• What is the decent home standard?

Owner-occupiers (and their spouses) must be over 65 years of age or in receipt of Council Tax Benefit to qualify and must have applied for any other generally available grants for energy efficiency. For landlord applications the tenants must also have applied for any other generally available grants for energy efficiency.

For the property to qualify it must meet all aspects of the decent home standard apart from thermal insulation. Homes failing other aspects of the decent homes standard will need to apply for a renovation grant.

• If your property has gas or oil programmable heating you can apply for a grant if you have less than 50mm of loft insulation and no cavity wall insulation.
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• If your property has electric storage heaters, programmable LPG or solid fuel central heating you can apply if you have either, less than 200mm of loft insulation or no cavity wall insulation.
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• A grant of up to £500 may be payable for loft and or cavity wall insulation or up to £1000 if solid wall insulation is to be carried out.
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• There are no conditions requiring repayment of the grant.
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• Grants cannot be given for work that has already been undertaken.

We can give you an indication of whether your property would qualify if you tell us:

• The age of construction of the property.
• How space heating is provided.
• The depth of any loft insulation.
• Whether the walls to the property are solid, filled cavities or unfilled cavities.

You can contact us on 01394 444506 or email ps.housing@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.

Suffolk Coastal's Helping Hand home improvement agency can assist vulnerable clients with all aspects of a grant application.

Full details about eligibility and how our grant schemes operate can be found in the Council's Private Sector Housing Renewal Strategy (new window PDF 484KB).

Please note that grants may be suspended if demand exceeds available budget.

If you qualify for the Warm Front Grant (new window) and the cost of works exceeds the maximum Warm Front grant, the Council will fund top-ups of up to £800. These top-ups are automatically offered by Warm Front to qualifying clients, there are no application forms and payment is made directly by the Council to Warm Front.

A decent home is one which:

Meets the current minimum statutory standard for housing - meaning that it is free of serious health and safety hazards.

Is in a reasonable state of repair - properties which fail to meet this criterion are those where either:

• one or more of the key building components (for example, roof covering, electrical installation) are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair; or
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• two or more of the other building components (for example, bathroom, kitchen) are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair.

Has reasonably modern facilities - properties which fail to meet this criterion are those which lack three or more of the following:

• a reasonably modern kitchen (20 years old or less);
• a kitchen with adequate space and layout;
• a reasonably modern bathroom (30 years old or less);
• an appropriately located bathroom and WC;
• adequate insulation against external noise (where external noise is a problem);
• adequate size and layout of common areas for blocks of flats.

Provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort - this criterion requires dwellings to have both effective insulation and efficient heating.

More information about the decent home standard (new window) is available on the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) website.