If you’re looking into WECA green business grants, the two currently available (as of August 2026) are Green Community Building Grants, for not-for-profit organisations running community facilities and Green Care Home Grants, for SMEs and charities operating care or nursing homes. Both offer £1,000-£15,000 towards energy efficiency and low carbon improvements, and both include a free energy survey as part of the application process.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
- What the Green Business Grants scheme is and how it works
- Who is eligible for funding
- What types of energy efficiency projects are covered
- How to apply for funding
- How we can support you in securing your grant-funded project
Green Community Building Grants
Green Community Building Grants help not-for-profit organisations purchase and install equipment that reduces emissions, cuts utility costs and improves energy efficiency in the community facilities they run.
Who’s eligible:
- Not-for-profit organisations – registered charities, community interest companies, community benefit societies, charitable incorporated organisations, charitable trusts or cooperative societies.
- Organisations running a community facility – community centres and hubs, village and neighbourhood halls, social clubs and youth centres (including scout huts) or buildings of worship where over 50% of use is for community services and events.
- Located in Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol or South Gloucestershire.
Libraries, parks, GP surgeries, post offices, pubs, retail spaces and sports facilities aren’t eligible buildings, and general businesses, sole traders and partnerships aren’t eligible applicants – this scheme is specifically for the not-for-profit sector.
Funding rate:
£1,000-£15,000, covering 30%, 40%, or 60% of eligible costs depending on the measure (see below) or, for measures outside the standard list, based on the project’s simple payback period without grant.
If your organisation is based specifically within Bristol, it’s also worth checking the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund – a separate, Bristol-only scheme (funded by Ameresco and Vattenfall) offering grants, microgrants and zero-interest loans for community-led decarbonisation projects. Its eligibility criteria differ in places from Green Community Building Grants above – libraries, for instance, are explicitly welcome to apply to City Leap, but explicitly excluded from Green Community Building Grants – so it’s worth checking both if you’re not sure which fits.
Green Care Home Grants
Green Care Home Grants help SMEs and charities operating care or nursing homes make the same kind of energy efficiency and low carbon improvements.
Who’s eligible:
- SMEs and similarly-sized organisations – private limited companies, PLCs, LLPs, community interest companies, community benefit societies or registered charities. Fewer than 250 employees, and turnover of £54m or less, or a balance sheet of £27m or less.
- Operating a care or nursing home, as defined by the NHS, where personal care and accommodation are provided together.
- Registered with the Care Quality Commission, rated “needs improvement” or better.
- Located in Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol or South Gloucestershire.
- Retirement/extra-care/independent living accommodation, buildings requiring a domestic EPC and non-care-home premises (like offices) aren’t eligible.
Funding rate:
£1,000-£15,000, covering up to 50% of eligible costs – a single flat rate rather than the tiered structure above.
What Can the Grants Be Used For?
Both schemes fund similar categories of work:
- Capital works to improve energy efficiency or reduce emissions – insulation, heating, lighting, and glazing.
- Capital purchases that reduce emissions from operations – equipment relevant to your organisation.
- Renewable generation, such as solar PV.
Both have real technical strings attached worth knowing before you apply: only low carbon heating technologies qualify (heat pumps, electric radiant heating, solar thermal – not gas, oil, coal, or LPG, even as part of a hybrid system), heat pumps and air conditioning must use R32 or a lower-GWP refrigerant, and renewable generation projects are generally expected to address the cheaper electricity-reduction measures first. Neither grant can be used for anything not recommended by an independent assessment, for projects that don’t produce measurable carbon savings, or for costs that form part of a wider deep renovation. Full technical criteria are set out in each scheme’s grant guidance.
The Free Energy Survey
Every applicant needs an independent assessment of their premises – but you don’t need to pay for one separately. WECA’s Technical Advisors provide a free energy survey as part of the application process, typically involving around 12 hours of support:
- You provide 12 months of energy data (bills or meter readings).
- A non-invasive walkaround assesses your building’s fabric, heating, ventilation, cooling, lighting and relevant equipment.
- You get a discussion of quick wins, best practice and available technologies.
- A report summarising findings and recommendations follows – some of which may be eligible for grant funding.
If you’ve already had a survey from someone else and it supports what you want to apply for, you can skip WECA’s survey entirely and go straight to the project application.
Where Independent Technical Testing Adds Value
For a straightforward project, WECA’s free survey is often all you need. But for anything more complex – like a heritage building or a multi-property portfolio where the right answer isn’t obvious – a general walkaround survey may not give you (or WECA’s assessors) enough to work with. That’s where specialist technical testing and feasibility work make a real difference to the strength of an application.
How to Apply
The application process is broadly the same for both schemes:
- Complete an expression of interest form – WECA carries out eligibility and due diligence checks, including a credit check.
- Book in an energy survey – free, unless you already have an independent report that supports your application.
- Complete your project application form – you’ll need one recent quote to calculate the grant amount and carbon savings.
- Application assessment and award – applications are scored competitively against value for money, deliverability, and financial viability (plus, for care homes, resident and staff wellbeing).
- Complete your project and claim your grant – the grant is paid in arrears once the project is finished, operational, and paid for.
All projects must be completed, paid for, and claimed by 31st of March 2027, when funding closes – this is a hard deadline that can’t be extended, so it’s worth allowing plenty of time, particularly if you need an energy survey first.
What’s Next?
Whether you’re weighing up a heat network against individual heat pumps, or need heritage-sensitive diagnostics that a standard survey can’t provide, the right technical evidence is often what separates a strong grant application from a shaky one. We can help with the testing and feasibility work that goes beyond WECA’s free survey when a project genuinely needs it.
Get in touch to discuss whether your project needs air tightness testing, a thermographic survey or a feasibility study to strengthen your application.
Keep Informed
Get practical insights on retrofit, decarbonisation and compliance, delivered straight to your inbox.
"*" indicates required fields