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The Green Deal

The Green Deal has been making headlines for months now and BLC Property Services will be in the forefront of The Green Deal when it is launched in 2012. We will have a team of Green Deal assessors, a comprehensive list of Green Deal providers and installers.

Does your house often feel draughty and cold? Do you often find it difficult to heat your home in the winter? Like you, millions of other households in the UK lack adequate energy efficiency. The review of sustainability of existing buildings, published in 2006, states that 6.1 million homes lacked adequate loft insulation with a further 8.1 million lacking cavity wall insulation. Insulation is one of the most common and readily available energy efficiency measures, so why are so many homes lacking adequate insulation? The answer lies in the cost to homeowners. Although relatively cheap compared to other forms of energy efficiency measures, in reality the total cost is still too high for the majority of households.

What is The Green Deal?
The government have recognised the real and immediate need to insulate households across the UK. To address this, the government are hoping to introduce a revolutionary initiative aimed at improving the overall efficiency of the UK housing stock. Known as the ‘Green Deal’, the new initiative is centred on encouraging homeowners, landlords and businesses to plan, finance and install energy efficiency measures. Funding will be provided, should it be needed, of up to £10,000.

The Green Deal will overhaul the way in which finance is provided to individuals. Repayment obligations are linked to the energy meter of a property, not the individual. For example, should someone move out after completing the Green Deal, the subsequent owner or bill payer will be responsible for repayments. The financing structure will allow you, the consumer, to install energy efficiency measures at no immediate cost. Repayments are then made via the saving from consumers energy bills, meaning that any measures installed should, technically, pay for themselves.

At the very heart of the proposed finance structure is the ‘Golden Rule’. The golden rule contains a set of criteria that must be met in order to secure funding. The first being that repayments should not exceed the total expected savings. The second being that the total length of repayments should not exceed the life expectancy of installed measures.

There are three important steps within the Green Deal that form part of the overall process.

The first role is that of a Green Deal Assessor (or Advisor). Green Deal Assessors will inspect a property, and identify where efficiency upgrades are required. Consumers will also receive advice on how they can reduce their day-to-day energy consumption. An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is what is used by Green Deal Assessors to identify the efficiency of a property. You do not need to wait for the Green Deal to be launched to obtain an EPC, they are readily available and can be obtained from us.

Then we will contact a Green Deal Provider. A Green Deal Provider is a private organisation that will fund the efficiency improvements.
Finally Green Deal Installers will be responsible for not only the installation of the energy efficiency measures, but also the quality control of any renovations carried out on a property.

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Useful links
The Green Deal- http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/green_deal/green_deal.aspx
DECC- http://www.decc.gov.uk/

Further reading
Household energy efficiency report- http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn249.pdf
Review of sustainability of existing buildings- http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/154500.pdf
The Green Deal: energy savings for homes and businesses- http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/what%20we%20do/supporting%20consumers/green_deal/796-green-deal-leaflet-homes-business-energy.pdf
What measures does the Green Deal cover- http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/what%20we%20do/supporting%20consumers/green_deal/1734-what-measures-does-the-green-deal-cover.pdf

For more information on The Green Deal please call us on 0208 660 0104 or email on enquiries@blcpropertyservices.com.