2013 is drawing ever closer, and with it comes the launch of the UK government’s latest flagship initiative, The Green Deal. This scheme is hoped to take full effect on 28th January in the New Year.
With the aim of making properties more energy efficient, the Green Deal Scheme should be helpful to both the environment and property owners across the UK. The process of participating in the Green Deal will involve a property being surveyed by an accredited Green Deal Assessor, who will then advise the owner on which measures are needed to be taken in order to increase its energy efficiency.
The scheme has been said to be “the biggest home improvement scheme since the Second World War”; here’s hoping it lives up to its expectations! What is certain is that the carbon emissions currently being pumped out into the atmosphere needs to be significantly reduced. So much so, in fact, that the government has set a carbon emissions reduction target of 80% by the year 2050. It seems, then, that this scheme is what is needed to kick start the country into taking the necessary measures to help achieve this.
Various home improvements will come under the Green Deal, including the installation of double glazing, boilers and insulation. Of course, each property will have very different needs, which is why the role of the advisor is essential to this scheme. Green Deal Advice will be comprehensive and tailored to each individual building. After this stage the property owner will be free to choose which installers and providers they want to carry out and finance the work.
This brings us to the Green Deal Loan: a cleverly thought out plan to finance Green Deal improvements. Any property improvements will be paid back through the property owners’ energy bills. The logic behind this is that there will be no upfront cost at all for this work. This is because of the Green Deal Golden Rule: The cost of the work must be less than the expected savings over the length of the Green Deal plan.
This enables property owners to significantly increase the comfort and value of their home, whilst simultaneously helping the environment, without having to pay the usually unaffordable upfront costs.
Only time will tell whether this scheme will be a winner, but hopefully with enough cooperation it will seriously reshape Britain!
