New home improvement scheme

There is good news for builders and homeowners in the Isle of Man, as the Department of Social Care weighs up a new package to help people with the cost of refurbishment.

The department will this month ask Tynwald to back its new House Improvement and Energy Conservation Scheme.

The scheme would give grants towards certain home improvements, and has its roots in the previous version which ran out on October 31.

Since 2000 the government has paid out more than £2.7 million on home improvement grants which, the department says, has led to a huge drop in the number of unfit dwellings on the Island.

The new system is means-tested and covers areas such as drainage, double glazing, roofing, gas and oil fired central heating, cavity wall insulation and replacing lead plumbing.