The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) will open to new applications for the second time on Wednesday 10 December.

Through this second release funding of up to £5,600 will be available to households in England and Wales to help with the cost of installing energy saving measures such as solid wall insulation, double glazing, boilers, cavity wall and floor insulation.

Up to £30m in vouchers will be available. Details of further releases will be announced on a quarterly basis with the next release expected in February 2015.

The funding is part of the extra £100m for household energy efficiency measures announced in October 2014, which is in addition to the £450m already allocated to household energy efficiency between 2014 and 2017.

The £30m will be split into two categories with up to £24m for solid wall insulation and up to £6m for two measures from a list of home improvements available under the scheme.

Once the funding under each category has been committed, no more applications will be taken for that category although applications will still be taken for the other category if funds are available.

Following its launch in June this year, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund has already provided vouchers for more than 20,000 households. Through this second release of funding, domestic energy customers can now receive up to £4,000 for installing solid wall insulation; up to £1,000 for installing two measures from an approved list; up to £100 refunded for their Green Deal Assessment; and up to £500 more if applying within 12 months of buying a new home.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “The best way people can cut their energy bills, this winter and every winter, is to improve their homes so that they leak less heat and use less energy. That’s why we’ve increased the funding available for the Green Deal to help even more people start saving money sooner.”

The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund will create job opportunities for the energy efficiency sector as a whole. More than 1,100 Green Deal authorised businesses are currently registered to provide work under the scheme.