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Landlords looking to upgrade their boiler in 2010 may have heard of the recent announcement by the government to bring in a boiler scrapage scheme, similar to the one introduced this year for cars.There are estimated to be 4.2m band G boilers which fall into the least energy efficient category. The government in their pre-budget report has committed to providing a one of scrappage payment of £400 per boiler for households wishing to scrap this category of boiler. The sum of £85 million has been made available for up to 125,000 households to replace their old boilers.
The details of the boiler scrapage scheme have yet to be thrashed out and will not be available until April 2010.
Npower has also announced a boiler scrapage scheme offering £400 towards any new boiler installed by their partnering company Hometeam.
Could this be a boiler bonanza?
Some pundits have already been speculating that combining the two schemes could easily cover the purchase cost of a new boiler which can be bought for around £700.
However, before landlords get too excited about the prospect of a free boiler I would point out a few potential drawbacks:
Firstly, until the conditions of the scheme come out next year we don't know as yet whether landlords will be eligible. I can't see why they shouldn't be but there could be a condition that it only applies to owner occupants.
Secondly, there are only 125,000 grants available so if the scheme is popular you still might not get selected.
Thirdly, if you do try and use the NPower offer than using their appointed installer will inevitably mean that you are going to pay over the odds for the boiler and the installation. If British Gas are anything to go by this will work out far more than the £400 they have promised for the boiler scrappage.
Finally, with the likely rush on as a result of the new scheme the chances of any of use being able to get a plumber will like be trying to find a snow flake in July. So what will plumbers do? Yep put up their rates.
For landlords looking to upgrade their boilers in the new year than the scrappage scheme may be able to save them a few hundred quid, but maybe it won't be the boiler bonanza that some have suggested.
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Thought I'd share some of the information we here at the National Landlords Association have on this:
We spoke to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC)on the day of the PBR about this. Current thinking from their officials is that this policy would apply to landlords.
But there's no real flesh on the initiative yet. The Cabinet Office are still even deciding if responsibility for this will sit in DECC or DEFRA (another Gov. department) so there aren't even any officials to grill on the details!
We're keeping an eye on it though and no doubt be twittering about it soon! [http://twitter.com/nationalandlord]
Thanks vincenzo, useful update
well it seemed to work in the auto industry so I think it is a good idea. I need a new boiler so I'd be interested.
It is also worth noting that the money can go towards a solar hot water system: if it's an advanced one, such as the LaZer2 designed by SolarUK, the combination of this and an energy efficient boiler should be a winning one in terms of supplying a household's hot water requirements for most of the year without reliance on fossil fuels.
You would have heard about the boiler scrappage scheme and I also know, just like me you will be pretty happy about it. Like me you probably wont qualify for it but are happy about the amount of carbon emissions the scheme will reduce (140,000 tonnes a year). I have just heard that Scottish and Southern energy are matching the governments scheme, I don't know if its true but what I read on its website says it will give anyone a £400 allowance towards a new grade A boiler, no matter where you stay and know matter how old your boiler is. I also think you can still claim the governments allowance on top of that, so if you have a grade G boiler & live in England then you can get £800 of your new one. Pretty good I have to say but the true winner is our planet. You can find out more information @ boiler scrappage uk.
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