There are reports that the government’s Green Homes voucher scheme might come to an end in March, less than a year after its launch. 

 

While there have been almost 70,000 applications for vouchers, by the end of January only 21,000 vouchers had been issued and less than 3,000 installations had been completed. 

 

Industry experts are arguing that options available for homeowners, such as heat pumps, don’t meet the needs of many families. 

September is National Home Improvement Month (NHIM) which aims to encourage homeowners in the UK to start home improvement projects. 

 

The NHIM challenge is for people to #makeonechange in their home. 

 

Last year, over 17 million adults across the UK made changes to their homes. With many of us spending more time at home than expected this year, even more are expected to start some home improvement projects. 

If you’re considering buying a property that’s more than 20 years old as a renovation project, here are some things to think about. 

 

Your House Buyer’s survey doesn’t include and electrical inspection and condition report (EICR). A professional inspection of the wiring and any installations will confirm that the property is safe and help you to understand what you will need to do to bring it up to modern standards. 

The new Wiring Regulations have introduced changes that focus on surge protection to help improve safety in our homes and commercial premises. 

 

An electrical surge, or ‘transient overvoltage’, is a brief voltage peak between two or more conductors. A surge can be just a few volts or thousands of volts. 

In a recent survey of 2000 people by a price comparison website over three quarters of the respondents said they were ‘fearful’ of the idea of a smart home.