If you own your own home, or rent privately, and are on a low income, you might be able to get free improvements to your heating, insulation and ventilation to help make it warmer for next winter.

Ealing Council is taking part in the Mayor of London’s Warmer Homes programme, which provides Londoners help with repairing or replacing heating systems; fitting new insulation for walls, roofs or floors; and with measures to help proof against draughts.

You have to apply and provide some information to show you are eligible for the help. If your application was successful, a survey would be carried out by Happy Energy Solutions to work out which improvements would be most suitable for your home and then the surveyor would talk these through with you. With the current coronavirus concerns, any home visits would only be scheduled for a time when it is deemed safe to do so.

Landlords can also apply as long as their tenant is eligible.

You can apply for Warmer Homes help online.

Why should you apply?

• If your application was approved, the improvements would make your home warmer for next winter
• Living in a properly heated home can improve your health, particularly if you have a long-term health condition that is made worse by the cold
• The improvements should result in lower energy bills, which is better for your pockets; and more efficient heating, which is better for the environment
• You would not have to pay anything towards the work.

Are you eligible?

These are all qualifying criteria:

• Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income-Based Job Seeker’s Allowance
• Income Support
• State Pension Credit (in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or both Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit)
• Disability living allowance
• Personal independence payment
• Attendance allowance
• Carer’s allowance
• Severe disablement allowance
• Industrial injuries disablement benefits
• War Pensions Mobility Supplement
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Tax Credits, and meets the income threshold
• Universal Credit, and meets the income threshold
• Child Benefit, and meets the income threshold.

Find out more and apply at www.london.gov.uk – and if you need help with filling out the form, you can call the Groundwork Green Doctor service on 0800 365 3005.