Latest on Communiheat, and some new green funding!

The Ovesco team has been out and about in Barcombe quite a bit of late. We had our event at the village hall in June, and our stall at the Barcombe Bonfire event in July. We even did a spot of door knocking! We’ve delivered questionnaires to every home in the village. If you’ve returned yours already, thank you! If you haven’t had a chance, please do take a few minutes to do. We included an envelope to return it in, or you can drop it off at the village shop. Or you can do it online at www.communiheat.com. You can also still have a free home energy assessment!

It’s been great to talk to so many people. There’s definitely plenty of appetite for the CommuniHeat project, and almost everyone recognises that it’s essential to transition away from fossil fuel heating, and quickly. There have been plenty of questions too – which is just as it should be. And one of the most frequent questions is – how’s it going to be paid for?

This issue is so fundamental to the CommuniHeat project and to the transition as a whole. How can it be made achievable and affordable for all? It’s been great to see it in the news recently, with experts calling for poorer UK households to receive free heat pumps, and the Prime Minister acknowledging to the Commons Liaison Committee that there are challenges that must be met around affordability.

Well, we have some welcome news ourselves on this front! We’ve been made aware of a new source of funding for green home improvements for homes in East Sussex, worth up to £10,000 per household. These improvements could include better insulation, heat pumps, solar PV or thermal, and much else besides. This particular funding is designed for people on lower incomes living in homes which have a below average standard of energy performance, so it’s not a complete solution. But if you qualify, we would definitely recommend looking into it.

To be eligible you need to have:

1. A gross (before tax) household income of under £30,000 p.a. OR a net household income of less than £20,000 after tax, NI, mortgage or rent and council tax. (Please note that disability benefits aren’t counted as income.)
2. A current EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of D, E, F or G.

Applications need to be submitted by 30th September 2021. If you think you qualify, feel free to contact us on communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or 01273 472405. If you think you might be eligible, but you aren’t sure, get in touch anyway and we’ll help you figure it out.

As the move towards decarbonising heat gathers momentum, other funding will become available. Rest assured we’ll also be keeping a very close eye out, and as soon as we hear of any, we’ll let you know!