THOUSANDS could lose out on £5,000 vouchers to make their homes greener, as the Government plans to slash scheme’s budget by £1.1 billion.
Brits can apply for up to £5,000 in Government help to install extra insulation, eco-friendly boilers, or even draft-proofing and double glazing under the Green Homes Grant scheme.
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But it was revealed that over a billion could be withdrawn from the pot of funding available.
The Chancellor revealed the £2bn Green Homes Grant in the spending review last year.
Of this cash, £1.5bn of funding would be made available to households, with £500m to be divvied out to local councils.
But any money not spent this year will not be rolled over to next, the Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth Anne Marie Trevleyan has confirmed.
She said the funds were “a short-term stimulus, for use in the 2020/21 financial year only”.
Mrs Trevleyan also confirmed last month that just £71m of vouchers have been dished out so far to households as of January 22.
And only £320m of funding will be given for 2021/22.
This means the pot available to homeowners could reduce by £1.1bn.
The budget cut has been slammed by environmental experts and campaign groups.
Greenpeace tweeted the budget cut was “a shambles”, and that the scheme could have helped “millions of draughty homes”.
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MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis tweeted: “When @RishiSunak launched £2bn #greenhomesgrant it was for free home improvements & job creation.
“A great concept, but then it launches & is hideously designed, overcomplex, tough to access.
“Today we learn as take up’s low, instead of fixing, the plans to remove £1.5bn. Sheesh.”
Despite the cut, a BEIS spokesperson confirmed to The Sun that households could still claim the maximum £5,000 worth of vouchers under the scheme.
The spokesperson said: “The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme was designed to provide a short-term economic stimulus while tackling our contribution to climate change.
“However, the prevalence of Covid-19 since the scheme’s launch in September last year has led to an understandable reluctance on the part of the public to welcome tradespeople into their homes.”
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
