Croydon Healthy Homes – Energy Advice

Croydon Healthy Homes is Croydon Council’s free energy advice service aimed at Croydon residents on low incomes, and those more vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home (especially families with young children, older residents, and residents with pre-existing medical conditions).

Our team of qualified energy assessors can offer you the following:

  • advice about gas and electricity tariffs and payment methods;
  • checking you receive all the support you are entitled to from your energy supplier. This could include Warm Homes Discount (a £140 discount on your electricity bill), and support through the Priority Services Register
  • using OFGEM accredited price comparison sites, assisting you to find the best fuel tariffs for you, and if want to change to the new tariff, supporting you switch
  • advice about any debt you owe to your energy supplier
  • advice about discounts and support from your water company (such a 50% discount on your water bill)
  • advice about Smart Meters

If you own your home or if you rent it from a private sector landlord we can also offer:

  • an assessment to see if your household and home meets the eligibility criteria for grant funding for larger energy efficiency measures [for example insulation and new heating systems]. We can help you to apply for regional and national grants. Information about current schemes available and eligibility requirements are on our domestic energy advice page.
  • advice about using the heating controls in your home, and ensuring they are set appropriately for the needs of your household
  • advice about damp and mould issues (if you rent your property please seek support from your landlord before contacting us)
  • If you rent your home from Croydon Council or a Housing Association, please speak to their housing team for advice about energy improvements, your heating controls, and any damp and mould issues.

The advice is initially through a telephone consultation. Where appropriate and at our discretion, we can offer follow-up home visits and other face-to-face support.

Please email healthyhomes@croydon.gov.uk to apply for support.

In your email, please include:

  • your full name
  • your full address, including postcode
  • a daytime contact phone number
  • your housing tenure (whether you are an owner occupier, rent from a private landlord, rent from Croydon Council, or rent from a Housing Association)
  • the reasons you are looking for advice from Croydon Healthy Homes

If you are referring someone else please provide the details above for the resident, your contact details, and an explanation of your relationship to the resident you are referring. Please make sure you have their consent before emailing us

Domestic Energy Advice

Read our domestic energy advice page for information about local and regional schemes to help you reduce your fuel bills, and improve the energy efficiency of your home.

The Online Rip-Off Tip-Off Campaign

Seven out of 10 people have potentially been scammed online by misleading practices such as hidden charges, subscription traps and fake reviews, a survey reveals.

A Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) study found that 71% of shoppers had come across tactics designed to manipulate them.

These ‘sneaky’ sales tactics include subscription traps, which mislead a customer into signing up to and paying for an unwanted service that can then be difficult to cancel, and surprise compulsory fees, charges or taxes being added during an online purchase.

According to the UK-wide survey, many respondents reported that they had wasted money on a disappointing product or experience, spent cash they couldn’t afford to or wasted time trying to undo the harm caused.

The CMA has now launched a campaign to help shoppers spot and avoid misleading online practices after becoming “increasingly concerned” about “sneaky” sales tactics.

The campaign also has the support of Citizens Advice, to whom consumers can report problems with misleading practices that they have encountered online.

For more information and for ways to spot misleading online sales tactics, head over to the Online Rip-Off Tip-Off Campaign website.

If you have been the victim of a scam, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or you can call Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline 0808 223 1133 if you require advice on an issue you are having with a trader or wish to report a trader.

Homes for Ukraine

The UK is one of the most generous nations in the world and the British public are now being asked to go one step further and open their homes to those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

We have a long history of helping others in their hour of need and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme offers a lifeline to those forced to flee their homes.

How this works
This bespoke scheme will offer a route to those who want to come to the UK who have someone here willing to provide them with a home. It will enable individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to volunteer accommodation and provide a route to safety for Ukrainians, and their immediate family members, forced to escape their homeland.

Sponsors should provide accommodation for as long as they are able, but we have a minimum expectation of 6 months.

Someone is eligible for the scheme if they are a Ukrainian national or the immediate family member of a Ukrainian national, and were resident in Ukraine prior to 1 January 2022.

We will welcome as many arrivals as possible, based on the number of sponsors.

People arriving under this scheme will be able to:

  • Live and work in the UK for up to three years
  • Access healthcare, benefits, employment support, education, and English language tuition

I’m interested – how do I register?
If you have a named person who you wish to sponsor you should get in contact with them directly and prepare to fill in a visa application with all their details and yours. The visa application will go live on Friday 18 March.

If you don’t know anyone who you wish to sponsor you may wish to get in touch with charities, faith groups or local community organisations who are starting to make connections between individuals.

You can also register your interest as an individual or as an organisation (for example charity, business, community group). Please read this form and the FAQs first before registering your offer of support, and we will keep in touch with you with updates as the scheme opens and develops.

What sort of accommodation am I expected to provide?
If you have a residential spare room or separate self-contained accommodation that is unoccupied then please come forward. The accommodation must be available for at least 6 months, fit for people to live in, and suitable for the number of people to be accommodated.

Further details on types of accommodation suitable can be found in our FAQs.

Do I need to provide meals or just accommodation?
Just accommodation. There is nothing stopping sponsors offering meals should they wish to.

You will not be expected to cover the costs of food and living expenses (although you may wish to offer this yourself).

I’ve registered my interest, what happens now?
You will be kept updated. In the first phase of the scheme, sponsors will be able to bring named Ukrainians and their immediate family members to the UK. This will launch later this week, and if you have a named family or individual you wish to support you will be able to fill in a form requesting to sponsor them.

Please see further FAQs for those interested in becoming a sponsor.