Eligibility & criteria

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Understanding if your business is eligible for the Scottish Government SME Loan for up to £100k for resource efficiency projects.


A wide range of resource efficiency measures can be funded by the SME Loan Scheme. However, the measure you wish to install must be recommended in a qualifying report.

Qualifying report

A qualifying report can either be a report from Resource Efficient Scotland or a Green Deal Advice Report (generated from a Green Deal assessment). A list of Green Deal assessors, installers and providers are available from the Green Deal Oversight & Registration Board.

Loan assessment and support

Energy Saving Trust (EST) administrate the scheme and are responsible for processing and assessing loan applications. Applicants will deal with EST for the loan assessment, offer and payment.

Commercial loans

There are a number of commercial lenders providing loans for energy efficiency measures. It is expected that businesses investigate these prior to application to this scheme.

Eligibility criteria

The scheme is aimed at providing loan funding for Scottish businesses that fall within the EC definition of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME), private sector landlords, not-for-profit organisations and charities.

To be eligible your business must:

  • Be based in Scotland.
  • Have been trading for at least 12 months.
  • Have fewer than 250 employees.
  • Have a turnover not exceeding €50 million (approximately £42 million) and/or a balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million (approximately £36 million). (Calculated in accordance with European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/E).
  • Have no controlling interest more than 25 per cent by a non-SME.
  • Have a satisfactory credit score and be able to afford repayments.
  • Agree that repayments will be made within 4 years for energy efficiency only measures and within 8 years for other measures (including renewables).
  • Be eligible for funding within the context of EC State Aid rules.
  • Be applying for a loan of between £1,000 and £100,000*.
  • Not start work prior to a decision being made on your application.

If you are installing a heating system, you must have made all reasonable and practical effort to improve the building fabric.

For the measure(s) that you are applying for, please ensure the following conditions are met:

  • A qualifying report must be obtained which details the measures you wish to apply for, along with the cost and carbon savings
  • The installed measure(s) is listed as eligible for support*
  • The loan will be for measures that result in carbon and financial saving. All carbon, cost and energy savings provided in qualifying reports must be calculated using the existing energy usage/ carbon footprint of the applying business and not from comparisons with suggested equivalents. If the current energy usage/ carbon foot print is not available e.g. site under construction or new expansion/development of the business, or is not used to make the calculations on savings, the application cannot be considered
  • The installed measure(s) will have an estimated payback period of 20 years or less (based on the financial savings in your qualifying report and the quotations you have provided).
  • Movable measures have to remain the property of the business until the loan is fully repaid.

For renewables measures, please ensure the additional conditions are met:

  • The main energy efficiency measures recommended in the qualifying report are either already installed or will be installed before the renewables measure
  • An MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) accredited installer will be used for renewable installations.

*Measures not included on the list may also be considered by the Scottish Government for inclusion in the scheme if they are accompanied by a Green Deal Assessment or if Resource Efficient Scotland provide a clear recommendation as to why the measure should be included. No additional measures will be included in the scheme without prior consent from the Scottish Government.

Applications are processed on a rolling basis all year round, subject to the overall availability of loan funds.

As the loan administrators, Energy Saving Trust reserve the right in consultation with the Scottish Government to suspend or reject preliminary assessments of applications on the basis that there are insufficient funds available in any financial year to provide loans to all applicants.

Read about how other organisations have used the loan in order to improve resource efficiency and maximise cost savings. Your key questions about the SME loan scheme, answered.

Please look at the list of the types of resource efficiency measures that can be the subject of a loan application which include; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, building fabric, renewables, waste and water solutions to mention a few.

Contact us for a free consultation and assistance with the loan process

From the audit report to the loan application through to implementation, we are here to assist you every step of the way.

Please call 0808 808 2268 or fill in the contact form.