The government has introduced this scheme to create jobs as well as to improve the energy efficiency of UK homes.

The industry is not very big, so it has to hire and train more installers to be able to deliver this scheme.

In order to protect homeowners, the government has insisted that only certified professional installers should be allowed to carry out the work under this scheme.

This means that installers have to go through a stringent certification process for each type of measure they wish to install, and this takes time.

There are suitable installers for all the measures across the whole of England. As the registration only went live on 30 September, however, not all the installers have been able to complete the registration process yet.

There is a shortage of insulation installers qualified to carry out work for park homes in particular, as the standards of expertise required for them are much more stringent due to the nature of the buildings, so qualification takes slightly longer.

As we hear of more installers completing their registration in Cumbria, we will update the FAQs. For now, see our FAQ on installers in Cumbria.

It could be that you need to expand your search area to, say, 100 miles, because installers register via their head office but may, in fact, cover the whole county.

The insistence on properly certified installers is important, as you don’t want untrained people working on your house. Badly installed energy-efficiency measures could cause structural damage and health problems in homes. (Also, mortgage and insurance companies don’t like botched building works that could reduce the value of a property.)