Home Upgrade Grant

What is the Home Upgrade Grant?

The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) helps residents by improving the warmth and comfort of their homes, whilst also reducing energy bills, carbon emissions and levels of fuel poverty across the city. The scheme is for private owner-occupied and private rented properties in Leicester with electric, LPG, or solid fuel heating and low energy ratings. The scheme is delivered by our partner, E.ON. You do not need to be an E.ON customer to take part in the scheme.

Who is it available to?

The Home Upgrade (HUG) scheme is now open for applications, but is only available to homes with electric (LPG, oil or solid fuel) appliances as their main source of heating. Check the eligibility criteria further down the page.

The energy efficient measures delivered through the scheme range from insulation to low carbon heating and solar panels. A technical survey will determine which measures are suitable for your home.

How to apply

To apply for the grant

• call E.ON on: 0333 202 4820 (phone lines are open Monday to Friday between 9am – 5.30pm)
• Apply online at E.ON

E.ON will then contact you via phone and check that you qualify before scheduling a home survey.

Would I be eligible?

You are eligible if you are:

• in receipt of means tested benefits, or
• your household’s gross annual income is under £31,000, or
• you live in any of the following postcode areas (use the drop down below)

Check eligible Leicester postcodes

• Your home must have an Energy Performance Rating (EPC) of either D, E, F, or G. If you don’t have an EPC certificate confirming your home's rating, E.ON can arrange one for you.

Check if you are eligible for HUG

You can use an online tool to check if you are eligible and apply for HUG. Alternatively, contact E.ON using the details above.

How much funding is available per property?

The average maximum amount of funding spent on any one property does not exceed £10,000.

If you’re an owner occupier you won’t have to pay a contribution towards the cost of the work. Landlords must contribute a minimum of 1/3 of the total costs of the installation, and the maximum amount of funding available per rental property is £5,000.

The actual amount of funding spent on a property depends on the measure(s) being received, as each measure varies in cost.

How we use funding

There are over 80,000 properties in need of retrofit energy efficiency improvements across the city. However, the funds are limited and we can only upgrade a certain number of homes each year.

We are reliant on central Government funding and regularly bid for funding to run schemes as they become available. With such a great scale of need, criteria are set by national government, and we concentrate on the least energy efficient homes first.

If you have applied, but been unsuccessful

Retrofitting homes with energy-efficiency measures is complicated to do, and unfortunately not all homes are suitable for certain measures (see frequently asked questions below). We encourage applications, but if you have missed out during the current funding phase, please check our energy efficiency page regularly for updates on future phases of funding or alternative national schemes.

Home survey

An E.ON contractor will visit you to determine what improvements are suitable for your home.

Installation

Your home will receive the required works from a Trustmark registered contractor to improve its energy efficiency rating.

Aftercare

E.ON will continue to provide you with ongoing support. The scheme also includes warranties and guarantees with applicable terms and conditions in accordance with the measures installed per job.

Visit E.ON’s Green Homes Grant webpage for more information.

Frequently asked questions