Great British Insulation Scheme - Free Home Insulation

I would avoid this like the plague!!! I made the HUGE mistrake of having cavity wall insulation installed back in early 2000's....... Worst deceision I have ever made, created bad internal damp problems, i fought for years to have the stuff removed. Whilst not perfect the majority of damp issues have cleared.

If it's anything like the last time they ran this scheme, you'll get two people who share a single Brian cell throwing rockwoll anywhere in your loft it lands, if your lucky it will make a mild improvement but make the space totally unusable, if you're unlucky, could cause any sort of thermal bridging issues and or damp.

Totally important thing to do, but judging by the current governments ability, likely to be implemented terribly.

Use to do this as a job, anyone any questions then gives us a shout. If done correctly then there wont be any issues, the issues stem from poor surveys of a property just to get work booked in.

Out of the two i would go for the loft insulation, less likely issues with this other than ventilation into the loft might be needed (felt openings) to prevent sweating and if you have 1950's houses then the barrelled ceilings get condensation issues as it not possible to insulate this part (wasn't at the time i installed).

Cavity wall insulation when looking at installers see if they install thermo bead. Again less likely to get issues with this as it doesn't soak moisture but any gaps internally, pipes coming in/out, missing bricks in loft etc it will over spill so make sure they are filled before going forward. Also any sort of work to be done windows replaced / extensions etc get done first as if its not mixed correctly with the glue it will just pour out when brick works removed. Bead also requires less holes.

Rendered houses - Make sure render doesn't breach the DPC another cause of damp. Would advise against it anyway. The holes are placed in mortar joints and with it being rendered you are unable to see these which if its a older house with poor mortar bricks will move, and on a side note looks shocking until the house is repainted even more of a night mare if it needs to be removed.

suspended floors - If you have wooden floors make sure the air bricks are replaced and sleeved otherwise lack of ventilation again can dry rot the floor. Same for room vents. These are usually sealed externally to prevent more work but in reality needed for air to circulate in rooms. Get them replaced and sleeved and get and open/close vent internally so they can still be used when needed.

Sounds ideal when the average temperature of the country is going up. Will make those 30+ degree days lovely inside.

Hearing all these issues with damp following cavity wall, can anyone who actually knows what they’re talking about and not just tin foil hat brigade explain if that’s due to moisture being trapped in the property and unable to leave, or it’s due to moisture entering and causing damp in the cavity?

would a simple dehumidifier nullify the issue or is that insufficient?

my partner has applied for the above and she’s sent the details off to octopus. Our loft is insulated and boarded, though not sure on thickness so all that would be left is cavity wall on a 70s detached 4 bed. We have a dehumidifier on the go most days so I guess we’ll see what they say when they ring/come around. (edited)

Great thanks again British Gas

For information - Octopus Energy are taking referrals

(edited)

This might be a silly question but how do those with solid brick walls get wall insulation?
Would it be applied inside, outside, or just not eligible?

My property is rated C so wouldn’t qualify, but it’s pretty cold and draughty. Mainly due to stupid window vents with flimsy covers

Does solid wall insulation have the same damp issue as cavity wall insulation?

I filled in the referral form for this and 50 MINUTES LATER I got a scam call about energy pretending to be from "Energy Saving Centre" sneakily getting bits of my personal info. Too much of a coincidence they got my phone number and called about that very subject. I didn't communicate with anyone else about the issue (saw the HUKD, went to the site & filled details).

Maybe UK Gov site or Shell Energy have a data breach. Super difficult to report that to UK Gov though - unsurprisingly (British organisations aren't interested in talking to people, just getting money & having a easy life). Managed to report it (sort of) after (advice from ICO) to OFGEM fraud reporting (they run environmental schemes apparently). (edited)

Finally got replies from octopus energy, they seem to only be doing loft and cavity wall insulation.... had to clarify its a solid wall so i would need external wall insulation which they said was part of the scheme but they dont offer it.... so its pointless being part of it.


Anyone know which energy supplier is actually doing solid wall insulation as part of this scheme? Looks like i would need to swap to them and apply.... dont want to claim for £50 of loft top up compared to £10k wall!

If you do want to have this done make sure you consult with either surveyor or mortgage lender if you don’t then you will only regret.

Applied for this for my elderly parents property back in August with OVO. Finally heard from an installation company a few weeks ago who said there was no funding for loft insulation. Went back to OVO who contacted the installer again. Finally got a call today.

They are only offering £216 towards the cost of the insulation itself. To proceed they would also need to fit trickle vents in all rooms that didn't already have them and extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen. They are quoting a frankly unbelievable £450 per trickle vent!! I didn't bother asking what they charge to fit an extractor fan! We were expecting to possibly pay a contribution, but this works out far more expensive than if we don't use the scheme. What an utter shambles.

Shame I'm not eligible as our household income is just over £31,000 maybe I should ask the Mrs to stop working for a few months lol. - Tony is right see comments below, you have to be entitled to 1 of the below to be eligible.
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Would have looked into this. Have an old council flat, now owned, but it's bloody freezing when the weather turns up here in Scotland.
Won't bother now going by many comments. Heat (no pun intended) though for those it works out for 🔥.

We applied for this scheme last year but funding fell through as in order to get the loft insulation we had to have fans fitted in the kitchen and bathroom. The main contractor argued for months that the only way they would do the kitchen install was with trunking running across our recently fitted tiles. This went on until eventually the funding expired.

The government scheme resubmitted us for this year's funding and sure enough the new main contractor wanted to do the same install but when we explained the situation they said they would fit a PIV unit in the loft. A couple of weeks later everything is now installed. Still not convinced about the PIV but at least it's unobtrusive and can be turned off.

Looks like it's based on benefit as e-on said not eligible as I don't get any form of benefits. What's the catch here, very confused. The house qualifies based on the energy rating and council tax Band. (edited)

I had a survey done a few weeks ago and had a call from everwarm today. They have offered me solar, external wall insulation, floor insulation, heat pump and loft insulation. With all smart controls. With a cost of £34000, and I am required to contribute £2000. So excellent deal.

However. I pointed out to them that I have a floored and lined loft which is fully insulated all around. I also have no need, or desire, to install the heat pump heating system. As my boiler is only 5 years old or so, and I know nothing about these systems except that I don't trust that being efficient at all in Scotland. So I asked if it's possible to only pick the parts I need. She has to go and clarify this with her boss, and she called me back to say that I either took it all, or nothing.

She said that they loft insulation was part of the great British insulation scheme, and all the others were an "eco4" scheme from my local council.

Anybody know anything about this. I think they are at it, and just chasing extra work. I'm going to have a search myself later into this, but thought I would ask in case any one has had a similar issue!

Govt scam, last time they opened scheme for all. I got 3 quote from listed builder for attic insulation....all were 10K plus. Govt scheme team person said, no we can't pay more than 5K and I said work is of 2K so why govt is not allowing us to use our own builder. He said, it's not in his hands.

All bloody scam every thing is fraud in this country for now for sure.

bit like the govt "fix your bike scheme" during covid lockdown time.
I remember getting 1 voucher and had to take it to Halfords (who were booked for 6months+) and then when the time came, they did 5 mins of work and took the voucher at full £50 value. Asked me if wanted to pick up some cleaning goods for the bike as it would be charged within £50. Great work for them. They made ton of money from this scheme and staff told me that most of the time they end up selling bike fix plans on top of the work.

Brian is quid's in! no cells needed.

So i live in Northern Ireland, and earlier this year i looked into this scheme for both loft and wall insulation as what i have is basically non-existent.
Now, because i work for a living, own my own home and earn an Ok wage (not great, but enough to pay my bills and little else) i was told i wasn't eligible for the scheme, but there was a scheme that would give me a discount of the price of both if i got them installed together.
So i contacted the people running the scheme, they came out, assessed the house and agreed i needed the insulation and that they would post me out a quote.
I live in a 3 bed semi detached, standard size house, nothing fancy.

£3800 and that was including the discount.
And they were only going to lay the insulation, and i was expected to empty the loft anyway

Dont know about you, but i dont have 4 grand just lying about that i can do this with.

So, I managed to get a guy to come round and fit 6 vent roof tiles £150
9 rolls of 200mm top up insulation £230 (On Offer (y))
3 Boxes of loft 200mm loft stilts £175
10 boxes of chipboard flooring £130
2 boxes 30mm wood screws £10
one weekend of graft and i now have one insulated, ventilated and floored loft,

I don't know if it's typical of EPCs, but a several sections of ours says assumed, rather than having actually checked for whatever. The house is apparently C rated, yet can be really cold downstairs, even in summer (dormer bungalow, so is hot upstairs.. least it's nice in winter!). It is social housing though, so we should be grateful it's even still standing..

Be very careful with adding cavity wall insulation. Can cause problems with damp. It’s hard to know beforehand whether it will cause an issue or not.

The idiots that are “insulate Britain” really don’t understand this.

It’s such a shame as if live to get it done, I just won’t risk it though.

Loft insulation is a better options, but can still cause some issues if not installed properly at the edges. You can just do this yourself though. (Get some knee pads would be my advice).

Victorian homes were built to breath. If you slap on external insulation so a solid wall construction, you are simply going block air inside and cause condensation issues. With cavity wall buildup you can half get it right but there is still a risk. However getting better windows, loft insulation, underfloor insulation (under the floor boards) at ground floor and a good working boiler is all you need. If you go down the route of external insulation you need to think about way of helping that building breath and controlling humidity, besides just simply opening the window. Maybe purge ventilation may help, but generally it’s not enough. It’s also looks terrible from the outside.

Love the idea of this but hate that we get punished for being employed - IV just spent forever on the form about told I'm unsuccessful. . This country's becoming. A joke wheres the benefit of working and paying taxes If I never get a benefit in doing so 😔😔

Scam. EPC was E before they did the survey. And after the survey they bumped up to EPC D, without any work done.

And then kept saying Ur EPC is D hence not eligible and finally no work was done.

Nothing really works for the masses in this country...

I registered as soon as this came out for my mother. All I got was several calls from spray foam insulators to spray the roof.
I declined - don’t touch spray foam for roof - has a very bad press.

Latest update - applied as soon as opened through octopus.
Have energy surveyor coming Tuesday.
They will do loft insulation, but i have to agree to have a planed gap under all doors, extractor fans in kitchen & bathroom and trickle vents fitted to all windows. All free.

How long before we are crying out for house ventilation rather than insulation.

Just out of interest. How would the under floor insulation be carried out? Would they rip up all the floors?

I’m band „B” and it has to be A-D Which alphabet did they use ??