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This is the message that Saffery Champness is sending out to rural businesses, farms and estates which may be providing accommodation for staff or retired workers, or other rented housing, as well as possibly having a large property of their own to heat.
 

The domestic RHI Scheme, which is due to open for applications in Spring next year and is expected to run until March 2021, has very clearly defined rules. For example, heating systems for more than one property will not be eligible; neither will new-build properties.
 

The scheme will have particular appeal to households in rural and remote areas as it is primarily targeted at those who are off the gas grid and cannot receive a mains gas supply. It will apply to four renewable technologies – air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, biomass and solar thermal.

The scheme will be open to owner-occupiers, private landlords, registered providers of social housing, third party owners of heating systems and self builders.
 

Shirley Mathieson, Head of Renewables at Saffery Champness, says:
 

The scheme works on the basis that financial support will be paid at a set rate per unit of renewable heat generated (kWh) for seven years.  Support rates for the different technologies vary and will range from 7.3p/KWh to 19.2p/KWh.  The Government will be able to adjust the tariffs available to new entrants to the scheme through a degression mechanism to control their budgetary spend and there is the possibility of capping further down the line.
 

All homes in the scheme will require a Green Deal Assessment (unless self-build) and all systems installed will need to be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme. Applications to the scheme can also be backdated through a legacy facility so that systems installed between 15 July 2009 and the 2014 launch date could be eligible.
 

Holiday homes, or second homes that are not part of a commercial holiday business are also eligible for inclusion in the scheme subject to their heating system being metered.
 

Shirley Mathieson says:
 

Owners and landlords of rural and remote properties that are ‘off grid’ as far as heating is concerned should certainly be considering the benefits of the domestic RHI scheme. We would encourage them to be actively assessing what their requirements might be and what technologies would be best suited to their circumstances.
 

Also, as legacy applications will be eligible there is not necessarily any reason to wait until the scheme opens next spring to install a renewable heating system; however some might consider it prudent to wait until the scheme is in operation before going ahead with any installation to ensure that they are eligible for the tariffs. Either way, the launch of the scheme is reported to be only a few months away so it is well worth starting to give the possible installation of a renewable heating system serious consideration.