Green Deal - £70 Million Available 16th March

The budget for the third release of Green Deal funding is £70 million and will open to new applications from midday, Monday, March 16, to allow households in England and Wales to claim up to £5,600 to help with the cost of installing certain energy saving measures such as solid wall insulation, double glazing, boilers, cavity wall and floor insulation.  Energy Ministers have launched the latest phase of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund but funds are limited and DECC say it can vary the terms of the scheme (including the incentive rates) or suspend or close the scheme, with immediate effect, without notice and at any time. Read more on the Residential Landlords Association website.

Was Green Deal Cashback Scheme Rigged?

An investigation has begun into the sudden closure of a cashback scheme for households to install energy-efficient home improvements, amid concern that many of the applications in a last-minute deluge were not genuine. The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, which opened in June, offered households up to £7,600 each to install measures such as solid wall insulation and double glazing. The fund closed abruptly on July 24, without notice, due to “overwhelming popular demand”. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) had announced reductions to the cashback rates two days earlier. Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s opposition energy minister, questioned whether the deluge of applications was caused by “the speculative activity of those seeking to get their hands on as much public subsidy as possible” in a letter to the public accounts committee. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Green Deal Cashback Scheme Shuts with Immediate Effect

A £120m scheme offering households cashback for installing energy-efficient home improvements was shut down with immediate effect on Thursday night (24 July) after funds were exhausted in just six weeks. The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) offered households up to £7,600 each - enough to cover the majority, or in some cases all, of the cost of various measures such as insulation or new doors and windows. On Tuesday (22 July) ministers announced that they planned to lower the cashback levels on offer as of Friday because £50m had already been allocated. But in a statement rushed out on 24 July, ministers announced that “due to overwhelming popular demand”, the fund was instead “closed for applications with immediate effect”. “A surge in applications over the last two days means the allocated budget has now been reached,” it said. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.