The Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme (HEULS) aims to make home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable for eligible homeowners.

The scheme supports energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades where those works are also being grant-aided by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

The scheme is established and offered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and benefits from a guarantee that has been provided by the European Investment Fund (EIF) and European Investment Bank (EIB) and supported by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).

Loans to eligible applicants must be used for the purposes of upgrading the energy efficiency and decarbonisation of a qualifying residential property.

FEATURES

STEP 1

Applicants must first engage with one of the following service providers to carry out an energy assessment of their residential property.

• SEAI Registered One Stop Shop

• Energy Partner

• Community Project Coordinator

If the energy efficiency performance of the property is expected to improve by minimum of 20% through the upgrade, when compared to its existing Building Energy Rating (BER), the applicant can apply for funding under the scheme. In addition, the proposed approved upgrade works costs, net of the SEAI grant amount, must be at least 75% of the financing provided under the loan.

Please note – Applicants must utilise one of the above-mentioned service providers (SEAI Registered One Stop Shop, Energy Partner, or Community Project Co-Ordinator) to carry out the energy efficiency upgrade works.

Please note – In addition, applicants must undertake the upgrade under one of the following SEAI grant programmes:

• National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme
• Better Energy Homes Scheme
• Community Energy Grant Scheme

STEP 2

Applicants must then provide evidence of the result of the energy assessment (Home Energy Summary Report) conducted by one of the above-mentioned service providers (SEAI Registered One Stop Shop, Energy Partner, or Community Project Co-Ordinator) to First South Credit Union to begin their credit application process. Contact us today to get started!

Please note – It is only at this stage that a decision will be made by First South Credit Union on credit approval. Approval of finance is subject to First South Credit Union’s credit criteria, policies and procedures.

BORROWER ELIGIBILTY CRITERIA

• The applicant must be a natural person (meaning an individual, not a company) acting for his/her own benefit and not on behalf of someone else.
• The applicant must be resident in Ireland.
• The applicant must not be a sanctioned person or in breach of certain restrictive measures.
• The applicant must not be engaged in any illegal activities or illegal economic activities.
• The applicant must not be tax resident in a non-compliant jurisdiction.
• The applicant must not, to the best of his/her/their knowledge, be in an exclusion situation (including but not limited to being bankrupt, subject to insolvency proceedings, subject of a final judgment for fraud, corruption, participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering or terrorist financing, terrorist offences or human trafficking).
• The applicant must be able to provide confirmations in the scheme documentation, including that he/she/they will undertake the energy efficiency investment under the scheme on up to a maximum of three properties owned by him/her/them.
• The applicant must be availing of a grant under a SEAI schemes for the purpose of funding (in part) the energy efficiency investment under the scheme.
• The applicant must confirm ownership of an eligible property (see Eligible Property Criteria section below) by providing a self-declaration and the Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) for the property.

LOAN CRITERIA

• The loan must be new.
• The loan must be entered into by a finance provider during the relevant period.
• The loan must be in the form of a term loan.
• The loan must have a fixed repayment schedule providing for equal monthly instalments or equal monthly principal payments and must not include a period during which the principal is not payable.
• The loan must be denominated in euro (EUR).
• The loan agreement must be valid, binding and enforceable under applicable law.
• For loans issued with the specific purpose of financing the construction of new buildings and major rehabilitation of existing buildings, any such construction must comply with national energy standards (and certain additional requirements apply if loans are granted/issued with specific purpose of financing the heating and/or cooling of buildings).
• Loans with a “bullet repayment profile” (entire amount to be repaid at maturity) or “balloon” repayment profile (30% or more to be repaid at maturity) are not eligible under the scheme.
• The proceeds of a loan must be applied towards the financing of eligible investment costs of an energy efficiency investment in accordance with the terms and conditions of a SEAI Scheme, and the energy efficiency investment must be carried out by a SEAI Project Intermediary.
• The financing made available under the loan must not be used for refinancing of existing term loan debt, residential property renovation that has previously received other SEAI-funded grants for the same energy efficiency investment, and/or installation of any form of fossil fuel burners.
• The minimum improvement in the energy performance of the property must be at least 20% when compared to the energy performance of the property before the energy efficiency investment commences.
• The associated costs (if any) must make up a maximum of 30% of the eligible investment costs.
• The loan must finance an energy efficiency investment carried out in compliance with minimum requirements with respect of environmental legislation and information access.
• The proposed approved upgrade works costs, net of the proposed SEAI grant amount, must be at least 75% of the financing provided under the loan.
• The actual upgrade works costs incurred under the loan, net of the actual SEAI grant amount, must be at least 70% of the financing provided under the loan.

ELIGIBLE PROPERTY CRITERIA

• The property must be a residential property in the Republic of Ireland.
• The property must not have been used in part for commercial purposes and in part for residential purposes at any time in previous 12 months, and the borrower must undertake not to use the property for such purposes for at least 12 months after they obtain finance.
• The property must not have been subject to one or more short-term letting at any time in previous 12 months, and the borrower must undertake not to use the property for such purposes for at least 12 months after they obtain finance.
• The property must not have been used as a holiday home at any time in previous 12 months, and the borrower must undertake not to use the property for such purposes for at least 12 months after they obtain finance.

STATE AID

The scheme will operate under the De Minimis Regulation.

State aid will apply on loans granted to any homeowner in which the underlying property (i) is currently being used; (ii) has been used in the previous 12 months; or (iii) will be used in the next 12 months for any rental or similar arrangement.

If the property/properties have been used for the above purposes, then there is “economic activity”, and State aid will arise on the grant of the loan(s) in respect of that property/properties.

Loans to other homeowners will not generate any State aid.

For a more extensive description of the State aid measures applicable to the scheme, please refer to the SBCI Regulation page.