Month: September 2020

Green Homes Grants

A reminder that homeowners and landlords can now access funding to help pay for the cost of energy-saving improvements.

In a recent press release the Department for the Business, Energy & the Industrial Strategy said:

Homeowners and landlords can, since Friday 28 August, see for themselves how the government’s new Green Homes Grants scheme can help make their homes warmer and more energy-efficient.

The Business and Energy Secretary Alok Sharma today unveiled a new opportunity for consumers to get tips for making their homes more energy efficient, and details of how the Green Homes Grant scheme can make installations cheaper. These will be available on a revamped Simple Energy Advice website.

The site offers a quick energy survey for consumers to see how energy efficient their homes already are, and where improvements can be made. Taking as little as 5 minutes, once completed homeowners and landlords can receive a personalised energy plan.

The Green Home Grants scheme, due to open by the end of September, will allow the consumers to obtain funding for up to two-thirds of the cost of the energy saving measures identified – up to £5000 – in the form of new vouchers. Lower-income households could be entitled to have as much as £10,000 of the costs covered.

The scheme will cover green home improvements including insulation of walls, floors and roofs, the installation of double or triple glazing when replacing single glazing, and low-carbon heating. These measures could help families save up to £600 a year on their energy bills.

The Simple Energy Advice website then offers people access to fully accredited tradespeople in their area able to carry out the work needed, so they can get quotes ready for when the vouchers become available.

If you’re a homeowner or residential landlord you can use a Green Homes Grant voucher towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements to your home.

Cars – It’s All Online if you have access to the internet there are a bewildering number of online resources that you can access to help you manage recurring tasks. This week we have listed a number of these with links to the relevant website pages.

1. Book a theory test – https://www.gov.uk/book-theory-test
2. Get cars or vehicle information from DVLA – https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
3. Tell DVLA if you have sold, transferred or bought a vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle
4. View or share your driving license information, useful when you hire a car – https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence
5. Check MOT status of a vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status
6. Book your driving test – https://www.gov.uk/book-driving-test
7. Check if a cars or vehicle is taxed – https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax
8. Tax your vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax
9. Check the MOT history of a vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

Another tip for motorists unrelated to the above services is that many insurance companies have been offering discounts to drivers – who because of COVID-19 restrictions have limited mileage on the clock – obviously, the less you drive the lower the risk of claims. Worth a call to your broker or insurance company.

You can use this service to check details about a vehicle, including:

• vehicle tax – the current rate and when it expires
• SORN status
• when its MOT expires
• the date it was first registered
• last log book (V5C) issue date
• year of manufacture
• type approval category
• weight
• engine size
• fuel type
• emissions – CO2, real driving emissions level and European status
• export status

New grant support was announced 9 September that offers businesses in areas subject to local lockdowns a measure of financial support. In a news story posted to the GOV.UK website HM Treasury said:

Businesses in England required to close due to local lockdowns or targeted restrictions will now be able to receive grants worth up to £1,500 every three weeks, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay told MPs today. To be eligible for the grant, a business must have been required to close due to local COVID-19 restrictions. The largest businesses will receive £1,500 every three weeks they are required to close. Smaller businesses will receive £1,000.

Payments are triggered by a national decision to close businesses in a high-incidence area. Each payment will be made for a 3 week lockdown period. Each new 3 week local lockdown period triggers an additional payment.

Other details published in the same announcement include:

• Any businesses still closed at a national level (e.g. nightclubs), will not be eligible
• If a business occupies a premises with a rateable value less than £51,000 or occupies a property or part of a property subject to an annual rent or mortgage payment of less than £51,000, it will receive £1000
• If a business occupies a premises with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or above or occupies a property or part of a property subject to an annual rent or mortgage payment of exactly £51,000 or above, it will receive £1500
• Local authorities will also receive an additional 5% top up amount of business support funding to enable them to help other businesses affected by closures which may not be on the business rates list. Payments made to businesses from this discretionary fund can be any amount up to £1500, and may be less than £1000 in some cases.
• Local authorities will be responsible for distributing the grants to businesses in circumstances where they are closed due to local interventions
• Further eligibility criteria may be determined by Local authorities
• As with other Covid business grants, local grants to closed businesses will be treated as taxable income

It is implied in this announcement that businesses in affected areas will need to contact their Local Authority to secure funding under this new support initiative.

Regional considerations

The UK Government has guaranteed that the devolved administrations will receive at least £12.7 billion on top of their March Budget settlements to help them with their response to COVID-19 this year, with £6.5 billion for the Scottish Government, £4.0 billion for the Welsh Government and £2.2 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive. The Barnett formula will apply in the usual way to any additional funding provided to departments in relation to this intervention.

Back in March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was just starting the government announced new emergency measures to help those businesses and self-employed people affected by COVID-19 through the Time To Pay service. A dedicated COVID-19 helpline opened on 11 March 2020 and remains available via webchat and phone. HMRC has made up to 2,000 experienced call handlers available to support businesses concerned about meeting their tax liabilities due to coronavirus.

HMRC says that all businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service.

These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities. Agreements reached with HMRC allow businesses and individuals to pay off their debt by installments over a period of time.

HMRC will usually only offer taxpayers the option of extra time to pay if they think they genuinely cannot pay in full now but will be able to pay in the future. If HMRC do not think that more time will help a taxpayer then they can require immediate payment and start enforcement action if payment is not forthcoming.

Taxpayers cannot appeal against HMRC’s decision not to grant additional Time To Pay but can make a complaint if they are unhappy about how the way they were treated by HMRC.