What do the recent scheme changes to the Domestic RHI mean to you?

The government announced amendments to the Renewable Incentive Scheme eligibility, which came into effect on 24 March 2016, the main points which affect our customers are details below:

Green Deal Assessments

Green Deal Assesments are no longer an eligibility requirement for the Domestic RHI. Applicants will still need to meet minimum insulation requirements of loft and cavity wall insulation and provide a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that is no more than 24 months old.

New Build Properties – 183 Day Occupancy

The scheme recognises that it has been an unintended consequence for eligible new self-build property owners having to wait 183 days prior to scheme application or needing to install heat meters if they haven’t lived in their homes for at least 183 days or more in the last 12 months, therefore the regulations have been amended to make eligible new build properties exempt from the 183 day occupancy requirement.

Tariff Indexation

Current Scheme participants will continue to have their tariff linked to RPI. All applications accredited on or after 1st April 2016 will be linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Degression Triggers

Currently the regulations only specify triggers up until the 31 January 2016 assessment date; the next assessment against expenditure is due 30 April 2016, which will inform any tariff reductions that take place on 1 July 2016. In these Regulations we updated the expenditure trigger points for the scheme until the 31 January 2017 assessment date.

See the full amendments to the scheme here