So, are you eligible? The scheme is open to householders in England living in an owned or privately rented home. If you are under 60 you can only apply for the scheme if the boiler you are scrapping is in working order and is the main boiler used to heat the home. If you are 60 or over you can apply for the scheme regardless of whether the boiler you are scrapping is in working order. However, it still needs to be the main boiler used to heat the home.

Not sure if your boiler is G-rated? Look to see if it has a permanent pilot light. If it does, it’s likely to be just that. If it is gas-fired and more than 15 years old, or if it’s oil-fired and over 25 years old, it’s likely to be eligible. If you’re still not sure, you can check the boiler’s make and model at the Government’s Boiler Efficiency Database.

If you’d like to register in the boiler scrappage scheme, you’ll need to email the Energy Savings Trust at boilerscrappage@est.org.uk or call the Act On CO2 advice line on 0800 512012. You’ll need to have full details of the boiler, the installer, the type of boiler you plan to replace the old one with and confirmation that you’ve received a quote/visit from your installer.

For more information, visit the Energy Savings Trust first.

We don’t want to put you off. Oh no. While we’re enjoying our August bank holidays, the 4Homes team will lie back (metaphorically) and think of you all beavering away in the garden, laying a new deck, or up in the bathroom, replacing old taps. However, a word or two of warning. We’ve been told that we Brits pay a massive £1.5 billion to fix DIY jobs gone wrong. Worse still, 250,000 people suffer DIY-related injuries every year (I can prove that – I’ve got a damaged finger from the gardening I did last weekend).

So, while it may seem like a good idea to use the break to do that wallpapering or tile a floor, it’s also worth preparing properly to avoid those DIY disasters. Kensington Financial Management Consultants have rather handily supplied us with some tips to avoid throwing a spanner in the works:

1 Check your tools – make sure they are in good working order to avoid any mishaps. Check that equipment carries British or European quality or standard marks in the manual.

2 Know your limits – if you are unsure of the extent of the job, call in an experienced professional, which may work out cheaper as you won’t have to fork out for specialist tools.

3 Insure and be sure – check insurance policies to see what you are covered for in case of an accident (not as silly as it sounds…).

4 A rushed job is a botched job – take your time and don’t leave anything unfinished, or sharp tools lying around.

5 Finally, from the team at 4Homes – don’t do a thing until you’ve checked out our DIY advice pages.

Good luck – and let us know how it goes – at our Rate My DIY Disaster pages.

My crazy plan is for Escape Lodge, an informal self-catering guest house where guests are immersed in nature and the landscape.  With optional activities to suit both active and passive guests we will aim to provide an escape from busy stressful lives. The activities include working on the land and using ancient craft skills to construct some traditional Scottish thatched stone houses – hence I had to find enough land to fit everything in.

Whatever your dream project, it seems building a house with lots of accommodation, social space and – of course – acres of LAND is a splendid plan.  All you need is the site… and the planning permission. 

There is a rule to this game – your land must be far from mains gas, electricity, water, roads, builders’ merchants and anyone with a decently big digger.

I have finally found my suitably impossible site and am preparing to apply for planning permission.  I have some experiences I’d like to share in case you find yourself in similar circumstances because there is no handbook for this one.  (You think there is but there isn’t!)

Escape Lodge is a good deal more demanding, and will be used differently from, a domestic house and it is an interesting challenge to remain ‘low-impact’ in every aspect of the project.  We have a burn (stream) which we hope to use for Hydro-electric generation but we are also investigating mains electricity connection and supply-back to the grid.  We are deciding on wood-fuel boilers and most importantly trying to work out how much water we will need from the burn and how much to store.  The journey starts with finding out if the soil can cope with sewage runoff.  

Water and drainage matter more than your grandest design and if you haven’t sorted them out your planning permission is not going to happen.  Next blog: carrying out percolation tests.

Find out more about Escape Lodge and The Highland Township Project at http://www.escapelodge.com/

If you’re looking for clarification of Sarah’s remarks about the housing market, we have our own expert take on the property market. It’s realistic, it’s not all pretty, but it’s by our expert Kate Faulkner, who knows exactly what she’s talking about. Don’t miss it. And let us know what you thought of last night’s show, too.

4Homes has teamed up with the Energy Saving Trust to bring you video tips fronted by 4Homes fave Naomi Cleaver, as well as the surprisingly useful interactive house tool.

Based on the interactive house recommendations, I can cut my carbon emissions at home by 50%. 50%! And this isn’t by doing things that are completely unrealistic for me, like buying and installing solar panels or trading in my non-existent car for a more efficient model. Instead, just by spending a weekend wrapping my hot water pipes in insulation and switching electronics off at the wall, I could be pumping out 50% less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Great news for polar bears and penguins everywhere. But more immediately for me in these credit-crunchingly difficult times, using 50% less energy means half price bills. Ker-ching.

To save yourself wads of cash and to reduce your carbon footprint, check out the Energy Saving Trust’s videos and interactive tips here.

George Clarke and The Home Show team are currently looking for new projects for the programme. You can find all the information you need on the Appear On The Home Show page within 4Homes.

Thanks for the interest all, hope you see you on my tellybox in the near future…

Click here to find out how you can appear on The Home Show