Homeowners will no longer be able to opt for pay-as-you-save on energy improvements
Energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd has announced that there will be no further funding for the Green Deal Finance Company due to “low take-up and concerns about industry standards”.
With no additional funding the Green Deal Finance Company will no longer be able to offer new Green Deal Plans, although existing plans will not be affected.
The Green Deal is the latest environmental policy to be scrapped since the government came to power after the 2016 zero carbon homes target was abandoned earlier this month.
Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, said: “With each passing day, this government puts an end to another green policy. The government’s strategy on dealing with high energy bills through home energy efficiency is now dead in the water.
“While the Green Deal was by no means perfect, the principle of enabling households to install energy-saving measures without paying upfront costs was sound. The irony is that the scheme was finally becoming established and the number of plans was growing.
“It has come as a shock. Over the last year it has started to gain a bit of traction. The way this has been handled means that it was inevitable that growth would be slower than the government predicted, leading to the funding inevitably being pulled.”
Richard Twinn, UK Green Building Council
“This is yet another announcement with no forewarning that will leave the energy efficiency industry battered and bruised.”
Although the domestic retrofit programme has been heavily criticised since its launch, reports from the Green Deal Finance Company indicate that it was beginning to increase its appeal to homeowners and tenants.
Commenting on the news, Richard Twinn, policy & public affairs officer at the UK Green Building Council, told CM: “It has come as a shock. It would have made more sense to scrap it last year before DECC stepped in to fund the company [after the Green Investment Bank withdrew their support].
“Although it was rather overhyped from the beginning, over the last year it has started to gain a bit of traction. There has been steady growth in the number of plans being awarded, but it still hasn’t reached the point where the Green Deal Finance Company is able to self fund. The way this has been handled means that it was inevitable that growth would be slower than the government predicted, leading to the funding inevitably being pulled.
“Research by the GDFC on the consumer profiles of the people buying the plans [shows] they are people that otherwise wouldn’t be able to make these improvements.”
The government’s decision has also created concerns that property owners who may have been relying on the Green Deal to finance energy efficiency improvements may now not be able to comply with Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.
Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation, said: “The end of the Green Deal will impact on many other policy areas including the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) passed by the previous government, which was designed to dovetail with a pay-as-you-save energy efficiency scheme.
“We are concerned that without a functioning pay-as-you-save scheme, the premise set out in the regulations that meeting energy efficiency targets should come at no upfront cost to the property owner is now in jeopardy.”
Peter Bonfield, chief executive of the BRE Group, will now lead an independent review to look at standards, consumer protection and the enforcement of energy efficiency schemes to ensure that the system properly supports and protects consumers.
