Notice

2 November 2020: Changes to the domestic RHI Regulations

Updated 3 April 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

The UK continues to face unprecedented challenges in responding to the crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This notice addresses a challenge that is particularly affecting some applicants to the domestic RHI scheme. We recognise that those wishing to respond to this notice are likely to have their own pressing issues to deal with in response to the pandemic. As such, we will continue to monitor responses and engage with stakeholders, as the situation across the country develops.

On 17 August, we announced changes to the non-domestic RHI scheme to help businesses and industry negatively impacted by the coronavirus, and said that we would consider whether any further measures were needed. We now intend to bring forward the following amendments to the domestic scheme.

The ‘12 month rule’ to apply for accreditation to the domestic RHI

The current domestic RHI Regulations allow up to 12 months for an accreditation application to be made after the installation has been commissioned. The ’12 month rule’ is in place for budget and scheme management reasons, and does not allow Ofgem to exercise discretion in extenuating circumstances. However, due to the government’s coronavirus response, and both national and local lockdowns, it has not been possible for some consumers to comply with this requirement. This has included reasons such as consumers being unable to find tradespeople or EPC assessors to carry out necessary measures before an accreditation application could be made. It is not the intention of the government to exclude potential participants who have genuinely tried to comply with the RHI requirements, particularly in cases where they have installed the renewable heating system on the basis of being able to participate in the scheme.

We therefore intend to amend the RHI Regulations to relax this rule, by allowing installations with a commissioning date on or after 1 March 2019 to apply for accreditation to the RHI until the scheme closes to new accreditation applications on 31 March 2022. We intend for members of the public who have had their applications rejected due to the 12 month rule within this period to be able to re-apply to the scheme. We will continue to monitor the potential impact of coronavirus related issues on the RHI, and consider what other changes might be needed to ether scheme as a result.

We intend to take the opportunity to make two further minor administrative amendments to the domestic RHI Regulations.

Revised degression triggers

Following an update to our forecasting methodology as part of our ongoing budget management of the scheme, we have decided to improve accuracy by removing installations reaching the end of their 7 year tariff lifetime on the scheme during the 2021-2022 extension period, from the calculations used to assess whether degression will take place. This is a technical change to more accurately reflect scheme spend during the one year extension of the domestic RHI. We now intend to adjust the current trigger levels so that they are aligned with this change, and to amend the RHI Regulations to reflect the revised triggers. The current gap between our forecasts of committed spend and the degression triggers will remain unchanged, so implementing this technical adjustment will not make a degression more or less likely.

Updated references to the HIES code of conduct

The Home Insulation and Energy Systems Quality Assured Contractor’s Scheme (HIES) would also like to update their consumer code of conduct (to reflect a change of Ombudsman, and to update part of the cancellation terms and conditions). The code of conduct (and the version and date that it came into force) are referenced in the RHI Regulations. We intend to update the regulations to reflect the new code version, and the date that the new version of the code comes into force.

Please direct any enquiries or comments to RHI@beis.gov.uk by Monday 16 November 2020.