Green Deal Energy Loans Had 'Abysmal' Take-Up

The government's energy efficiency loan scheme had an "abysmal" take-up rate because it had not been tested with consumers, MPs have said. The "Green Deal" ended last year after providing just £50m in 14,000 loans to households to boost energy efficiency. That was far less than the £1.1bn predicted by the government, with each loan costing taxpayers £17,000. In a highly critical report, the Public Accounts Committee said projections for the scheme were "wildly optimistic". The MPs said the Department of Energy and Climate Change's figures gave a completely misleading picture of the scheme's prospects to Parliament. Read more on the BBC website.

Green Deal Scheme Did Not Deliver Energy Savings

An abandoned government programme to insulate UK homes cost taxpayers nearly £400m and did not deliver energy or carbon savings, a report by official auditors has found. The green deal scheme was launched in January 2013 with the intention of handing out loans to improve domestic energy efficiency. It folded in July 2015 despite claims by David Cameron that his would be “the greenest government ever”. The National Audit Office has examined the scheme for the first time and found that the Department for Energy and Climate Change spent £240m on the scheme. Another £154m has been spent on the green deal home improvement fund which was set up to provide subsidies for efficiency measures, auditors found. Read more on the Guardian website.

Green Deal Funding To End, Government Announces

The government has announced it is to cease funding for the Green Deal, spelling the end for its flagship energy household efficiency programme. The scheme offers cashbacks and incentives on such things as double-glazing, insulation and boilers. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it took the decision to protect taxpayers, citing low take-up and concerns about industry standards. Labour said ministers' approach to energy efficiency had been a "failure". DECC said it would work with the building industry and consumer groups to agree a new "value-for-money approach". Future schemes needed to provide better value for money, and support the goal of insulating one million more homes and the government's commitment to tackle fuel poverty, it said. Read more on the BBC website.

2.4m Families in Fuel Poverty

The number of families living in fuel poverty remains ‘broadly unchanged’ since 2012, despite government promises to tackle the problem. Statistics published by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) show around 2.35 million households were living in fuel poverty in 2013, representing 10.4% of England. The Fuel Poverty Annual Report 2015 said: ‘This is broadly unchanged from 2.36 million households in 2012 [a change of around 0.5%].’ In July 2013, former Liberal Democrat energy secretary Ed Davey said the government was committed to tackling fuel poverty, despite scrapping a target to eradicate the problem. At the time, the government was accused of ‘shifting the goalposts on fuel poverty’. Download a copy of the report from the DECC website.

Green Deal Gamble: The £120 'Bet' That Could Win £1,850

Cash giveaways on energy-efficient home improvements, funded by the Green Deal, could be scrapped after the general election – but £5m remains ready to be claimed. The pot of money, up to £1,850 per household, is available on energy-efficient improvements such as cavity wall and loft insulation, a new boiler and double glazing. The £540m fund set aside to fund Green Deal home improvements has an uncertain future under the next government.  This £70m pot runs out in 10 days and it will be up to the new energy secretary to decide when – if – to dip into the remaining money. But DECC said there was still £5m available for eligible home improvements. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

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.

Social Landlords Shun Renewable Heat Scheme

Social landlords are declining to take up the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) due to upfront costs and a suspicion that the government will ‘shift the goalposts’.  Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) data shows only 510 measures have been installed by social landlords since the scheme launched in April, compared with 9,287 by owner-occupiers.  Leading figures in the sector said that to improve take-up of the scheme the government must offer more financial incentives and promise to maintain the terms and conditions of RHI, as opposed to changing them as it has with other sustainability schemes. Read more on Inside Housing.

DECC Demands Evidence of Green Deal's Impact on UK Housing

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has asked for evidence of the actual in-situ performance of energy efficiency measures available to UK housing under the Green Deal and Energy Companies Obligation (ECO).  Organisations procuring and delivering Green Deal and ECO measures are being asked to share their research findings and reports. Property stock holders, the wider housing industry, trade bodies, manufacturers, academic and research organisations are all being asked to contribute to the call for evidence. Read more on 24dash.

Tenants Trust Social Landlords for Advice on Energy Savings

The study by the not-for-profit consultancy Sustainable Homes for the Department of Energy and Climate Change has found associations managing property are in the best position to offer help, ahead of energy charities and family and friends. It also revealed that people struggle to make sense of their bills: 75% of those questioned for the study saying they had difficulty understanding them. More than one-third said they were confused by heating controls. The survey of 300 people was conducted as part of the National Energy Study, which was undertaken with 14 housing associations and 500 households last winter to look at energy use within the home. Download the report from the Sustainable Homes website.

Energy Department Misled Consumers over Green Deal Savings,

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has been ordered to drop an advertising campaign which misled viewers over the savings they could expect to make from the Government’s Green Deal scheme and failed to make clear the costs involved. In a further blow to the much criticised green initiative, DECC was criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following complaints that it misled consumers.  Viewers complained about a television campaign which implied that savings under the scheme were guaranteed.  But the ASA found that “DECC could not guarantee that Green Deal repayments would exceed savings. Read more on the Independent 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.

Landlords’ Multi-Billion-Pound Fuel Poverty Hit

The government’s fuel poverty strategy has left social landlords responsible for funding billions of pounds of improvement works, senior housing figures have warned. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published proposals to scrap its legally binding target to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016. Instead, it has set a new target of ‘as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable’ to meet a minimum ‘C’ energy performance certificate ranking by 2030. The new targets have been condemned by fuel poverty campaigners as a reduction in ambition. Social landlords have also questioned whether they are achievable given the strategy also confirms plans to reduce the energy company obligation, which funds most work to make homes more energy efficient. The exact cost to social landlords of meeting the target is hard to pin down – estimates range between £7.2bn to £27bn. Read more on Inside Housing.

DECC Research Shows Link between EPC Rating & House Prices

Not only do energy efficiency measures such as wall insulation, double glazing and energy efficient boilers help reduce energy bills, they also contribute towards higher resale values. A study, compiled by DECC, found that dwellings that were rated with an EPC of D were sold for 8% more than those with a G, and ratings of A/B were sold for 14 per cent more than the lowest rated houses. The report shows that there is a positive relationship on the effect of EPC’s ratings on house prices. It analysed repeat sale transactions from 325,950 dwellings in England from 1995 to 2011. Sale prices were taken into consideration along with dwelling attributes, detailed information on the EPC ratings and a multitude of socio-economic variables. Read more and download the report on the Sustainable Homes website.

Bad News for Landlords As Green Deal Fund Is Slashed

The National Landlords Association has slammed the government for reducing the Green Deal Home Improvement Funds (GDHIF) for solid wall insulation from £6,000 to £4,000. Richard Lambert, NLA chief executive officer, said: "Just as the Green Deal looks like it will finally succeed, the government seems determined to sabotage its own policy. The NLA made a strong case to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for the incentive payment for solid wall insulation projects to be set at a level that makes financial sense for the landlord to proceed with energy efficiency improvements to a property." Lambert insisted the NLA had got its sums correct. Read more on the NLA website.

Households Clear Out New £7,600 Per Home Green Deal Cashback

Households have claimed £25m from the Government to install insulation and double glazing in the first month of a new cashback scheme. The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) said 4,405 households in England and Wales have received vouchers to carry out home improvements under the second phase of the Green Deal. The first phase, a loan scheme, was criticised for being too complicated. Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, said the initial figures exceeded expectations. “The early evidence suggests we have got it right,” he told The Telegraph.  Households can claim up to £7,600 each to install energy saving measures, with the most generous cashback rates on insulation for solid walls. The work has to be financed upfront and then money can be claimed back. There is a pot of £120m available to households this year on a “first come, first served” basis. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

2.28m British Households Now Living In Fuel Poverty

More than one in 10 English households is now living in fuel poverty, Government figures show. The latest statistics published today – which date back to 2012 – show that in 2.28m properties people are struggling to be able to afford to heat their homes. The figures show that the number of homes in fuel poverty fell by almost five per cent over the year but the Department of Energy and Climate Change predicts that the number will climb by 2014 to 2.33m. Also the figure looks comparatively low as the Government has changed its measure for fuel poverty to take into account households with both high energy bills and low incomes. Read more on the Independent website.

Just 12 Homes Get Green Deal Energy Savers

The Government’s flagship Green Deal scheme is making “painfully slow” progress, with just 12 homes installing energy saving measures since its launch in January. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said 71,210 households had been assessed for Green Deal measures such as solar panels and insulation at the end of August, up from 58,124 in July. But only 677 households have gone to the next stage and said they would like to proceed with the scheme. Of these, 12 houses have had measures installed, while 293 properties had quotes accepted on work and 372 properties had installations "pending". The figures also showed the number of homes assessed for energy-saving measures fell in August. There were 13,086 properties assessed during the month, a 4pc fall from July. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

£20m to Help Local Communities Benefit from Green Deal

Councils are being invited to bid for £20 million to offer extra incentives for households to take up the government’s flagship green deal energy efficiency scheme. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is asking local authorities to identify streets and areas that would benefit from the scheme, and then put in bids explaining what additional incentives they could provide to residents.  Under the green deal households can get work to improve the energy efficiency of their property carried out without paying upfront. They then repay the cost of the work using fuel bill savings.  Read more on the Gov.uk website.

£20m Fund to Help Councils Deliver Green Deal

The Government has unveiled plans for a new £20m fund to help local authorities in the "street-by-street" delivery of the Green Deal.  Under proposals outlined by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), councils in England will be able to bid for a share of the cash to offer incentives to households to encourage entire streets or areas to install energy efficient home improvements. The incentives would be subject to approval by the DECC. Read more on the Local Government Executive website.

DECC Redefines Fuel Poverty

The Government has set out a new definition of fuel poverty to take better account of the problems of households struggling with low incomes. Under the current definition, a ‘fuel poor household’ is one that would need to spend 10% of its income on energy a year. Following an independent review and a consultation, the new definition has been set out to “ensure support is targeted at those who need it most”. Now, a household is defined as fuel poor if its total income is below the poverty line (taking into account energy costs), and where energy costs are higher than is typical.  Read more on the Housing Excellence website.