What is the Green Deal and how can it help me?
The Green Deal strives to reduce energy consumption in the UK by offering property owners government-backed incentives, particularly those with older properties. Eligible residential and commercial buildings may receive free installations of cost-cutting measures like cavity wall insulation or an efficient boiler - paid for over time via electricity bills, at no up-front cost. Tenants can also benefit from this scheme through their landlords taking part.
Homeowners and tenants can enjoy the benefits of energy-saving installations with no upfront costs thanks to the Green Deal Scheme. Cavity wall insulation, energy efficient boilers or other approved works are installed by private sector suppliers who place a charge on each property for these services.
The Green Deal helps you make energy-saving improvements to your home and to find the best way to pay for them.
The improvements that could save you the most energy depend on your home, but typical examples include:
insulation, such as solid wall, cavity wall or loft insulation
heating
draught-proofing
double glazing
renewable energy generation, such as solar panels or heat pumps
You can use the Green Deal for a range of different energy saving measures including:
replacing windows and doors
installing secondary glazing
using energy efficient lighting
insulating your loft or walls
adding draught proofing
upgrading your heating
generating renewable energy from sources such as wind or solar power
Repayment is easy - homeowners/tenants simply continue paying their usual monthly electricity bill as if nothing has changed but they will be repaying some of their loan at the same time! This means that not only do they save money in terms of reduced bills from more efficient appliances, but households have greater cash flow stability too.
Homeowners and landlords must be aware that the Green Deal Scheme is attached to a property, rather than an individual. Thus, upon sale of said-property they are required to disclose its existence so that potential buyers can decide whether or not they would like responsibility for payments transferred over -or if payment should occur upfront. As this scheme is relatively fresh on the market it remains unclear how buyers will address such issues in practice.
More information can be found on the government website.