Donal Hickey: Grants to save energy and make our homes warmer
Grants For Retrofitting Pre Houses 2011 Qualify Built
As we are in what is generally the coldest period of the year, a lot of us are looking at ways of saving energy and making our homes warmer.
The Government’s highly ambitious goal is to have 500,000 homes retrofitted to B2 energy rating by 2030. A tall order given the level of uptake so far — €170million of the €300million set aside in grants for the scheme was not taken up in 2022.
A serious underspend, given the urgency of meeting our climate change targets.
While the Government is trying to ramp up activity, a labour shortage is seen as the biggest challenge. Oonagh Buckley, general secretary, Department of Housing, recently told the Public Accounts Committee that around 4,000 people are working in the sector, but that 17,000 are needed to meet demand.
Houses built pre-2011 qualify for grants. The expectation is that those constructed since then are far more energy-efficient which, in many cases, would not be difficult to achieve.
I’ve seen houses from the 1990s and Celtic Tiger eras that are poorly-insulated, cold and draughty. Even some in the more expensive, and bigger, league are almost impossible to heat, leaving their occupants with massive fuel bills.
Some examples are almost as bad as much older houses that we remember from an earlier era when terms like ‘insulation’ and ‘double-glazing’ — not to mind houses without chimneys — were, as yet, unheard of.
Who could ever forget rattling window frames and wind whistling under doors as families huddled around open fires trying to stay warm, on winter nights? It used to be said (with some truth) that you’d be warmer outside than inside such houses.
Outside, at least, people wore warmer clothes and kept moving. Those inside were sitting still in draughts coming from different directions, some with their overcoats on, clutching hot water bottles and complaining of being cold in the bones.
Retrofit costs can range from €25,000 to €75,000 per house and people can soon avail of a new, low-cost loan scheme. Environment Minister Eamon Ryan says the €500m scheme is the first of its kind for Ireland and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Homeowners can borrow from €5,000 to €75,000 on an unsecured basis for up to 10 years. Interest rates are significantly lower than those currently available on the market as a result of an EIB loan guarantee and a Government-funded interest rate subsidy.
Also, €90million is being provided to local authorities, this year, for retrofitting social housing.
Meanwhile, almost 22,000 home energy upgrades were done in the first half of 2023 — up 150% on the previous year — reports Sustainable Energy Ireland.