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.