How is the Welsh Government helping to make home improvements more affordable for homeowners?
We have supported Local Authorities with £43m recyclable funding to provide interest-free Property Loans for landlords and homeowners for the purpose of home improvements or to renovate empty properties and bring them back into use.
Since the inception of the Home Improvement and Empty Homes loans scheme in 2014 1,104 empty properties have been brought back into use and 1,860 properties have been improved. A total of £1.68m of funding has been allocated to Pembrokeshire County Council which has resulted in bringing 43 empty properties back into use and improvements to a further 18 occupied properties, as of April 2024.
Launched in January 2023, our Empty Homes Grant Scheme is providing grants of up to £25,000 to owner occupiers and prospective owner occupiers to assist them in bringing properties that have been empty for a minimum of 12 months back into use.
Additionally, we have invested more than £30 million this year to reduce the number of low-income households living in cold, damp homes through our Warm Homes Nest scheme. Eligible households will receive a bespoke measure of packages to insulate and decarbonise their home leading to a reduction in their energy bills to move them out of fuel poverty.