The now defunct Green Homes Grant was fraught with problems, with low customer take up in some areas and contractors overwhelmed with enquiries in others. Some hugely overcharged for their work. Payments to contractors were delayed because of overly stringent checks and there were frustrations at government level over the US consultants tasked with managing part of the scheme.
After reaching just 10% of the 600,000 homes targeted for help, the scheme’s budget was reallocated into separate insulation funds to be managed by local authorities in a bid to help lower income households. This scheme for low income households proved more successful. However, many homeowners now say their houses have been damaged by unsuitable insulation with no redress available to pay for the problems to be fixed.
“Serious systemic” issues have been found in homes fitted with insulation under two government schemes since 2022, and installers have been instructed to correct the problems.
Solid wall insulation was installed in 154 homes in Chilton in County Durham in 2021 after advice from the County Council to take advantage of the free insulation. They hoped the measures would provide them with warmer homes and lower energy bills but instead have peeling wallpaper with saturated and crumbling plaster beneath.
Over three million UK homes had retrofitted insulation installed under government schemes, 260,000 of which had solid wall insulation fitted. Many of these homes were unsuitable for solid wall insulation, which cannot be fitted before fixing any existing problems with penetrating or rising damp.
The government’s promise of help to restore the properties will not help many of those who now have problems. Despite the promise that installers would be made to rectify and pay for the work, home owners don’t know how long this will take or who have to foot the bill, as some of the installers have since gone bust. Ofgem has written to 65,000 households which have had solid wall insulation fitted since 2022 to establish the extent of the problem.
Lack of knowledge, bad design and poor workmanship have caused problems in many of the properties and many were unsuitable for this type of insulation. In some cases, it is estimated the cost of the work could actually exceed the value of the house.
The quality scheme TrustMark has revealed instances of poor quality installations solid wall insulation made under the UK Government’s ECO4 and Great British Insulation schemes. As a result, 39 firms have been suspended from installing insulation under grant schemes and will be required to fix all the issues at no cost to the people affected.