Green deal reports near 19,000 mark

According to a  recent survey one in five homeowners across Britain feel that their homes are too cold. But an increasing number of people are looking to combat this by opting for the government’s flagship Green Deal energy efficient scheme, with nearly 19,000 green deal reports conducted since the launch in January this year.

The green deal, which launched on January 28, is an attempt to tackle energy efficiency barriers that face British homeowners. The scheme aims to reduce the overall cost of energy bills by recommending property efficiency and insulation measures.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) third round of statistics on the green deal shows a 27 per cent increase in Green Deal Reports over the previous month.

By April, only 9,522 had been carried out. But a recent spike has seen that figure increase to 18,816.

“It’s still early days for this long term initiative, but this is a clear sign of growing interest from consumers, with people keen to improve the efficiency of their homes to make them warmer and help save money on bills”, said energy and climate change minister Greg Barker.

“As the number of householders getting on board continues to rise, the number of businesses offering green deal services is also building momentum.”

“It’s fantastic to see householders and businesses cottoning on to the benefits and rising to the challenge.”

Huge boost in Green Deal Reports

Since the launch of the Green Deal scheme in January, new government statistics show that 9,268 Green Deal Reports  have now been carried out.

In the first month take up had been slow, with only 1,800 people taking up the scheme, however there has been a huge boost in March with almost 7,500 homeowners having Green Deal Reports carried out on thier property.

Figures are not yet available to show the number of people who will actually go forward and have the Green Deal improvements to their homes but the Department of Energy and Climate Change have said that this data will be released in June this year.


Richard Griffith of the UK Green Building Council has said:

‘These new statistics are encouraging and it is now clear that there is real momentum behind the Green Deal. Businesses are clearly seeing the potential in the retrofit market with an increase in the number of companies signing up to be assessor organisations.

‘However, the real proof will be how many of these Green Deal Reports are converted into installations. Long-term incentives will be key to ensuring that there is continued demand for the Green Deal and not just an initial bubble.’

Greg Barker, energy and climate change minister said:

‘It is clearly very early days but the latest figures on the Green Deal show that this new market is gathering real momentum. 9,268 Green Deal Reports taking place in just over two months is very encouraging and shows a genuine interest from consumers. The Green Deal gives people the opportunity to improve the efficiency of their homes, make them warmer and protect themselves from rising energy bills. Overall this is a really promising start for the Green Deal.’

Over 1,800 Green Deal Reports carried out in first month

Since the launch of the Green Deal earlier this year 1,800 Green Deal Reports have been carried out on homes across the UK.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change have unveiled figures to show that 1,803 people have had Green Deal assessments carried out on their properties for  a Green Deal package between the end of January and the end of February.

Edward Davey, Energy and climate change secretary has said that the Green Deal Scheme had got off to "an excellent start".

"We're seeing clear signs of a promising new market gathering momentum," he said. "In little more than a month, there have been 1,803 Green Deal reports and that shows genuine interest from consumers."
"We have created the Green Deal to overhaul our inefficient housing stock and help people keep their homes warm, while also reducing their energy bills. And as the market builds and awareness of the Green Deal increases, I am confident that consumer interest will grow and grow."

The figures for the level of interest in the Green Deal Scheme have been relatively high, no data was released to show the extent to which Green Deal reports are being converted into full Green Deal finance packages.

Ministers are confident that with the Green Deal offering the opportunity for improvement work at no upfront cost, large numbers of households taking out Green Deal Reports will sign up to the full scheme.

The Green Deal to improve a million homes by 2015

By 2015, under the Green Deal, the government expects to have improved one million homes, worth an estimate of £1bn.

Launched January 28th, the Green Deal Scheme is one of the government's flagship energy efficiency programme aimed to improve energy saving measures in homes across the UK. Households can repay long term loans for the improvements, such as Double-glazing and loft insulation, through their energy bills.

The secretary of energy and climate change, Ed Davey, said that through the Green Deal Scheme he hopes to create 30,000 new jobs in the insulation sector alone.

He added: "Just look at the size of the market, almost eight million homes needing solid wall insulation, 5.5 million that haven’t had cavity wall insulation, over six million that could get loft insulation. And actually, this is just the tip of the iceberg: there are over 40 different types of home improvements that can be made under the Green Deal."

Heating and powering the UK’s current housing stock accounts for 40 percent of the UK’s carbon emissions and the Government expects the Green Deal to reduce these by "between a quarter and two-fifths by the middle of the next decade".

"Together, we need to get this right to help people struggling with rising energy costs, to help get the economy moving again and to be part of the climate change solution.

Davey confirmed there are 40 approved Green Deal providers, 75 assessor organisations registered and more than 600 installer organisations already involved in the Green Deal scheme.

Hundreds of Green Deal Reports now complete

According to the governement, interest in the Green Deal scheme launched in January is building, with hundreds of Green Deal Reports already completed. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change has said, 'we are seeing up to 10,000 hits on our online guide and over 3,000 calls to the Energy Saving Advice Service helpline about the Green Deal Scheme each week. 

The Green Deal scheme launched the end of January, aimed to cut energy bills and carbon emissions from buildings by improving energy efficiency making it easy and affordable for both homes and businesses. The improvements can be paid for over time through consumers energy bills and the repayments are set as to not exceed the savings on energy achieved by the improvements on a typical house. 

By 2020 the government hopes to have insulated 14 millions homes through the Green Deal scheme and have said that the Green Deal could kick start a £14 billion market over the next decade creating at least 65,000 insulation and construction jobs by 2015.

A national advertising campaign to drum up interest of the Green Deal has been launched by the government and so far since the launch awareness has grown by 20%.

The Green Deal helping to keep our homes warm

Households across the country that are struggling to afford rising energy costs will be given a helping hand as part of a new governement initiative Green Deal scheme to improve the energy efficiency of Britains homes.

The Government Green Deal scheme is aimed at providing energy saving measures to homes such as insulation, draft-proofing and double glazing at no upfront cost. These measures will be paid for via monthly instalments attached to the households energy bills.


A spokesman for the Green Deal, said: “To get energy efficiency measures installed under the Green Deal, a Green Deal Report will need to be carried out on your property to find out what improvements can be made and how much you could save on energy.

“If you go ahead, a Green Deal provider, will provide a loan which can cover all or part of the cost.”
The Energy Saving Trust estimates it will cost £350 to insulate a three bedroom home.
An advice session supervisor, at a North West Citizens Advice Bureau, is urging people to take advantage of the Green Deal.

He said: “The idea is people shouldn’t have to pay more than what they already pay on their energy bill, so it’s no extra cost.

“Once the money is paid back you would start to make savings on other bills because it covers improvements on your energy and it’s a long term investment.

£2.9m Green Deal Ad Campaign awarded to Carat

According to Campaign, Carat, the Aegis-owned advertising agency, has been appointed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to produce a new advertising campaign for the Government’s new flagship energy efficiency scheme, the Green Deal. 

Carat will reportedly handle communications planning for a campaign to raise awareness of the new scheme after successfully pitching for the business.

The Green Deal aims to help consumers and businesses to implement energy saving home improvements in order to make their homes more energy efficient.

The agency will work on a consumer engagement plan designed to build trust and confidence in the policy and is set to launch in mid-January.

Jon Pile, the Client Director at Carat said: "We will use our understanding of the sector to develop a strategy that frames the Green Deal around home improvement, an area that we know our key consumer segments are interested in."

Green Assess are looking forward to the launch of this campaign, as when combined with the cash back incentive announced on Monday, it should really increase the awareness of this innovative new finance mechanism amongst the general public.

Green Deal to provide incentives for businesses

The Government should ensure the Green Deal provides incentives for businesses too or the scheme could falter. 

That is the view of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) who represents more than 100,000 businesses in Great Britain, in response to the launch of the £125m cash back offer (which only applies to domestic properties) on Monday. 

The BCC’s comment follows the Government’s announcement of a cash back initiative as part of the Green Deal, where domestic property owners and tenants can get more than £1,000 worth of money back, dependent upon what energy efficient measures they get installed.

“The Green Deal has a long way to go to fulfil its potential, not least for businesses, the majority of whom are unaware that they are eligible for it. The Government should look to ensure that there are adequate incentives for businesses to take part, otherwise the Green Deal could be a false dawn.” commented Dr Adam Marshall, the Director of Policy and External Affairs.

 Audrey Gallacher, from the Consumer Group said: “Improving your heating and stopping your home leaking heat can make a big difference to both your energy bills and your carbon footprint. It’s very welcome to see the Government providing cash incentives to those who take up the Green Deal scheme early. It’s also welcome that people don’t have to take out Green Deal finance to qualify.

“But the Government needs to provide incentives to all customers, not just early-adopters, to ensure wide-spread take-up in the long-term. This could mean moves such as council tax breaks or similar benefits for taking up energy efficiency measures.”

 The cash back initiative is worth £125 million, but the rates announced on Monday are currently available for the first £40 million only. There have been other suggestions from various parties on how the remaining funds could be spent, including one from an MP who suggests using it to cover the upfront fees for Green Deal assessments.

£125m Green Deal cashback scheme launches

The Government announced on Monday the launch of the £125m Green Deal cash back scheme.

"Energy saving has never been so attractive" - that’s the message from Edward Davey today as he announced the Green Deal Cashback Scheme is open, with hundreds of pounds of cash available to householders in England and Wales who make energy saving home improvements.

 

Householders who use the Green Deal to make improvements such as loft insulation, solid wall insulation and new heating systems will qualify. Packages could be worth over £1,000.

The more work households decide to have done, the more cash they could receive.

To qualify for the Cashback Scheme, households need to book a Green Deal property assessment so they are then ready to have improvements installed under the Green Deal from 28 January and get their cashback.

 

Learn more about the Green Deal

Give Green Deal Assessors £85 million says MP

Green Deal assessors should be able to claim the cost of their assessment from allocated Green Deal funds, suggests Alan Whitehead (MP) in his blog last week.

 

The £125 million cash back scheme to encourage the up-take of energy efficiency improvements by property owners and tenants has been offered by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to help launch the Green Deal.

 

Alan Whithead  has suggested using some of this money to pay for any upfront charges customers may face, specifically relating to Green Deal assessments.

 

The cash-back funding is part of the DECC Green Deal scheme designed to assist householders and businesses to become more energy efficient.

 

The cash back has been offered as an incentive alongside the ‘pay as you save’ Green Deal Finance initiative.

 

The first £40 million of this £125m pot has been allocated by the Government to guarantee up to £270 for upgrading to a gas condensing boiler, £50 cash back for draught proofing and £650 for solid wall insulation.

 

There are a number of further measures (15) covered by the cash back scheme with no cap on what households mayt be eligible for, confirms the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

 

"Go ahead with the first £40 million of scorching deals and get things up and running.” commented Mr Whitehead.

 

“But add another small voucher scheme to the one you’ve got for householders – get the assessors to claim back the money for assessments from the rest of the pot: a sort of ‘cashfront’ scheme."

 

"£85 million of the £125 earmarked is still floating around, courtesy of the Chancellor. Now how many assessments at British Gas prices would that cover? Not difficult maths – 850,000 or enough for about seven years’ worth of assessments." calculated the MP.

 

To qualify for Green Deal funding and the cash back scheme, a Green Deal Advisor will make an assessment before a Green Deal Provider can organise for an installer to conduct the works.

 

Green Deal Assessments are may be provided free of charge from some companies (usually subject to taking out a Green Deal Plan), but it appears that some energy firms are planning to charge between £99 and £150. However, in most instances these fees are refundable when work is carried out.

 

Mr Whitehead argues that allowing Advisors to claim these charges from the cash back fund would mean customers can shop around for Assessment quotes.

Green Deal Reports for solid wall insulation

Green Deal Reports — January 11th 2013

Many houses that were built before the 1920’s were unsuitable to take advantage of cavity wall insulation grants. With the launch of the Green Deal both interior and external insulation will be covered on Green Deal reports....Read more