Home Owner Grants

Better Energy Homes (BEH) Grants for Ireland

Formerly known as the HES (Home Energy Saving) Scheme, Better Energy Homes has been created to help homeowners pay for energy efficient measures, such as external wall insulation. These grants are available to any homeowner whose home predates the 2003 Building Regulations (typically homes built before 2006).

The objectives of the scheme are to:

• Provide support and advice to homeowners so they can intelligently improve the energy performance of their home.
• Reduce energy use, utility bills and emissions
• Improve contractor competence and quality standards along with market capacity
• Stimulate innovation

Applicants will receive a cash grant as an incentive to improve the energy performance of their homes. Payment is via Electronic Funds Transfer to the applicant’s bank account.

There are some provisos:

• Cash grants are fixed regardless of the size of the home.
• If the actual development costs less than the grant value, only the lower amount will be paid.
• Only homes built before 2006 are eligible for a grant.

As a national scheme within the Republic of Ireland, all homeowners of dwellings built prior to 2006 may apply for a grant. Landlords and owners of multiple properties may also apply, but each property requires a separate application.

Homeowners who received grant money from the HES Pilot scheme may also apply, but only for enhancements that were not covered by the original grant.

The BEH scheme covers the following energy-saving measures:

• Roof Insulation
• Wall Insulation: Internal wall (dry lining), cavity wall and external wall insulation
• Energy efficient heating systems
• Building Energy Rating (BER) – once energy efficiency measures have been completed, a trained BER Assessor will grade your home on an energy performance scale from A-G.

BEH has established a series of measures you can apply for as part of the scheme, as you can see below:

Category	Grant
Attic Insulation	€200
Wall Insulation - Cavity	€250
Wall Insulation - Internal Dry Lining
Apartment (any) or mid-terrace house	€900
Semi-detached or end of terrace	€1,350
Detached house	€1,800
Wall Insulation - External
Apartment (any) or mid-terrace house	€1,800
Semi-detached or end of terrace	€2,700
Detached house	€3,600

Sto has always maintained that the best way to insulate your property is by externally insulating your walls. This option has the benefit of being the measure that has the largest amount of money available through the scheme.

For application details please email us, or alternatively download the Better Energy Homes application form PDF.

You will only be able to access your grant payment when the following conditions have been met:

• All your contractors have completed the upgrade works and filled in the relevant 'Declaration of Works' (DOW) form and appropriate sections of the 'BER Confirmation' and 'Request for Payment' form.
• Your BER assessor has undertaken a site visit, completed/published the BER and returned to you the completed 'BER Confirmation' and 'Request for Payment' form.
• You have fully paid all contractors and your BER assessor.
• Once paid, ensure that you have signed all the relevant forms which you then submit to SEAI with a view to grant payment.
• All paperwork must be submitted together within the six month grant offer period.

If all the paper work is completed correctly, it takes on average 4-6 weeks to process grant payment, from the date the paperwork is received to payment into your account.

In accordance with the BEH Terms and Conditions, all works must be completed by an SEAI registered contractor. We'll be more than happy to introduce you to our SEAI registered applicators so you can discuss your needs and evaluate your options.

In accordance with the scheme's Terms and Conditions, Grant Approval must be in place prior to any purchase of materials or commencement of works is undertaken.

External insulation works to your home under the Better Energy Homes scheme may be exempted from the planning code. However, it should be noted that external insulation of a structure would constitute exempted development under Section 4(1) (h) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 only if it "constituted works which do not materially affect the external appearance of the structure so as to render the appearance inconsistent with the character of the structure or of neighbouring structures".

It is advisable to contact the planning authority in your area if there is any doubt that your planned development may contravene the planning code. Sto and our trained contractors will be able to offer insights to issues surrounding planning permissions under the BEH scheme.

If you need more advice, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team to guide you through the process and help answer any questions you may have:

Ireland sales office:
Tel: +353 (0)1460 2305
E-mail: info.ie@stoeu.com