What is the ‘Green Deal’?
The Green Deal is an initiative to reduce carbon emissions cost effectively by improving the energy efficiency of British properties, including homes and businesses. Over half of the UK’s 26 million homes are insufficiently insulated: the Green Deal sets out to tackle this problem.
The largest home improvement programme ever launched, the scheme works by allowing homeowners to make improvements to their properties for energy savings without any upfront financial outlay. Instead, they take out a loan which is tied to the property rather than the individual. The loan is repaid over a period of up to 25 years by being added to the property’s energy bill.
The finance mechanism involved is based on providing the reassurance that the cost of the home improvements should be covered by savings on energy bills.
As the financial obligation is attached to the property, there are no costs to the consumer once they stop receiving the benefits in energy reduction.
Taking part in the Green Deal is a five-stage process:
- A Green Deal Advisor assesses the property and provides a Green Deal assessment
- The homeowner decides whether they wish to implement one or more (if any) of the recommend energy efficiency measures
- The householder contacts a Green Deal Provider(s) to obtain and sign a Green Deal Plan for their chosen energy efficiency measures
- The Green Deal Provider arranges installation by a approved Green Deal contractor who carries the Green Deal Approved Quality Mark.
- The loan is repaid via the property’s energy bill.
For help finding a Green Deal Provider, call the Energy Saving Advice Service on 0300 123 1234 or visit the official The Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GD ORB).
The Department of Climate Change (DECC) have produced a number of guides to the Green Deal and ECO for various interested parties – householders, landlords, social housing providers, etc) and these can be downloaded on the navigation bar on the right.