Why is the Great British Insulation Scheme Failing?

Why does the GBIS have such poor take up? There were 300,000 homes identified that qualify for the scheme and by spring 2024 we were being told it would take 60 years to work.

Rather than just write a tirade of abuse about the scheme we decided to actually apply and then get a team of homeowners to use the scheme, to see what is going wrong. And maybe offer a solution.

The newspaper reports dominating our deadlines for weeks are surrounding the effect of the withdrawal of winter fuel payments.

15,000 pensioners in every constituency will lose winter fuel payment

A total of six million pensioners who now have a Labour MP will lose the subsidy - with some parts of the country hit far worse than others.

Daily MailKumail Jaffer

The pensioners who are being used as political footballs by the opponents of the winter fuel payment cuts are exactly the sort of people who qualify for the GBIS.

Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme

You could get a grant to install a heat pump or biomass boiler. Find out if you’re eligible and how to apply.

GOV.UKGovernment Digital Service

And for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

And for pretty much every scheme supporting vulnerable people.

So back to the GBIS.

The idea of providing people with a simple to use assessment tool is great. The concept of using the Energy Performance Certificate as a rough grade to select those who need the GBIS is crude, but could be effective.

But getting to the GBIS is the challenge.

When you apply a Google Search for the Great British Insulation Scheme. The search results are littered with search results that are for sites that are not the government GBIS application page.

For clarity sake, here's the official, government website you should go to for the GBIS.

Apply for support from the Great British Insulation Scheme

Check if you can get free or cheaper insulation to reduce your home’s energy bills - including cavity wall, solid wall and loft insulation.

GOV.UKGovernment Digital Service

This is just one step in a system, which if at any point the applicant pulls out, the scheme falls down on.

So is the user experience need to be improved, or are home owners even aware of the opportunity?

We searched out different homes that loosely fit archetypes used in retrofit work.

We have a large period house in a rural location, a suburban detached, semi detached and terraced houses and a terrace on the edge of a metropolis.

The initial question was always,

"Would you like a warmer, cheaper to heat, efficient home?"

Nobody wants a colder, more costly home to heat. And all our applicants want a better climate. People also prefer certainty.

And the GBIS offers no certainty. The language of the scheme is that of a whistling builder.

We'll see what we can do, we'll get back to you.

If you're eligible, we'll let you know.

So with a website that is tough to find, an audience doesn't demand it's service and an application process with no certainty...

...It might explain why the scheme has had such relatively poor take up.

After little to no research you can find Reddit conversations about the GBIS experience.

You'll see from the Reddit page, their is some speculation about the banding of applicants, about who is regulating the applicant process, and if so many people are not taking the scheme up, is the application process the falling down point?

Follow our magazine as we get behind 4 families and see how likely they are to apply, complete and succeed at the GBIS.

We'll be contacting the GBIS themselves and Ofgem to find out what is going to happen next.

With several million pensioners likely to be shivering in their homes this winter. Could the GBIS be one of many schemes that should be turbo boosting it's support for these vulnerable people? Stay tuned.