BEIS has finally published figures about the take up and delivery of the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme
From the 30th of September, when the scheme opened, until the 31st of January 69,151 households have applied for the grant assistance.
While 2,253 have already been rejected 40,379 applications were still being worked through , with most requiring the home owner to provide additional information. Just 26,519 ( 38%) applications have been approved.
This equates to 21,056 (21%)vouchers issued for individual measures out of the 100,193 applied for.
We are confused by this number as the number of vouchers issued should be higher than the number of applications approved, not less.
By the end of January, 2777 measures had been installed in peoples homes and 904 of those had been redeemed with payment to the installer.
The first installations started in November, and the number of installations each month has been increasing.
The most popular measures applied for under the scheme have been External wall insulation, Loft insulation and Energy Efficient Windows and doors. The least popular, Hot water tank insulation, Hot water tank thermostats and Ground Source Heat Pumps.
However the installation of Loft Insulation and Cavity Wall Insulation have together outstripped the installation of all other measures combined.
As of the 31st January no installations of Park Homes Insulation, Biomass Boilers, Hot Water Tank Insulation, Hot Water Tank Thermostats, Draught Proofing, Energy Efficient Windows or Doors, nor Secondary Glazing had actually been completed.
We have been assured by installers that the delivery of the scheme is improving with a considerable increase in the quantities of vouchers flowing through the process more rapidly,
It is concerning to see that of the 10,362 vouchers issued to vulnerable customers less the 8% have been installed. This appears to be due to cashflow issues with the installers who are having to prioritise the able -to -pay market to generate the cashflow required to cover the cost of the delays to the scheme. 13% of standard vouchers have been installed, over one and a half times as many as for the low income vouchers.
If you would like to review the full stats, they are available on the BEIS website
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-home-grant-vouchers-release-february-2021