The Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) is a new initiative from the City of Toronto designed to aid you in improving the energy efficiency of your home. The program came about due to substantial evidence that people were putting off implementing energy conservation-related improvements to their property due to the prohibitive upfront costs. The hope is that, with the aid of HELP, homeowners will now step up and make those energy related improvements. As a result they’ll save money in the long run and both the City and the Province will be able to meet their ambitious climate change goals.
About the Home Energy Loan Program (we help with)
The Home Energy Loan Program (we help with) is one that addresses a major impediment GTA homeowners have faced when it comes to making energy related capital improvements to their homes: Cost. It turns out many homeowners who have wanted to improve the insulation in their homes or install more energy efficient windows etc have been holding back because they believed their out of pocket costs would be too high. HELP is designed to provide low interest loans to these homeowners in the hope the availability of such loans will spur them to action.
The Benefits of the HELP Program
The program rightfully touts its many benefits which include:
- The ability to repay the loan in full at any time without penalties.
- Longer repayment terms than you would receive with a standard bank loan.
- Lower interest rates than with a standard bank loan.
- The ability to receive an energy-related home improvement loan worth up to 5% of the CVA (current value assessment) of your property.
- The ability to transfer responsibility for this low interest loan to a new buyer, should you decide to sell your home before the loan matures.
- Other incentives from Toronto Hydro, the Home Energy Conservation Program and more that will help reduce the cost of energy related improvements even further.
While the benefits of the program are real the actual application and approval process can be somewhat Byzantine. For this reason the experts at Spray City Insulation stand ready to assist you in taking advantage of this program.
Who Qualifies for HELP?
In order to qualify for the HELP program you must:
● Own a detached, semi-detached or row house.
● Secure the consent of everyone named on the property’s title.
● Be in a state of good standing with regards to your property taxes and utility payments.
● Obtain written consent from the holder of the mortgage.
What’s Involved with the Application Process?
The application process for the Home Energy Loan Program (we help with) can be broken down into 5 essential steps:
- Completing an online application – If you are still making mortgage payments the city will provide paperwork for you to give to the mortgage lender. Their consent will be necessary before the process can move forward.
- Home energy assessment – If the application is approved you will need to book a home energy assessment with a certified energy advisor. This assessment will cover all aspects of your home’s energy performance, including the quality of its insulation. You will then decide which project you wish to undertake based on the results of the assessment and submit a funding request for that project.
- The Agreement – Once your funding request has been approved the city will send you a copy of the Property Owner Agreement (POA). This must be signed and returned to the city. Once it is 10% of the approved amount of funding will be released to help get things going.
- Verification – Once you believe the improvements are finished your energy advisor will meet with you to verify that said improvements have indeed been satisfactorily completed. If they sign off on the work you’ll need to submit a Project Completion Report. After receiving this report and examining it the city will disburse the rest of the approved amount so that you can pay the contractors.
- Repay the loan – Once the improvements are complete and paid for using the Home Energy Loan Program (we help with) the homeowner must then repay the loan. The city will levy a “special charge” on your home and a portion of this charge will be added to your property tax bill every year until the loan is fully repaid.
If you’ve been putting off upgrading the insulation in your Toronto home the Home Energy Loan Program (we help with) may be just the thing. The fully licensed, experienced spray foam installers at Spray City Insulation will be happy to help you navigate the approval process in order to provide you the best chance of your project being approved. All insulation work is performed by our fully insured technicians using state-of-the-art equipment so call today for a free same day quotation and get started on getting the HELP you need.