English cities get £12m to ‘kick-start’ Green Deal

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has awarded seven English cities with a share of £12 million in order to ‘kick-start’ its energy-efficiency improvement initiative, the Green Deal.

Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield have each received a slice of the fund, financed from the £200 million set aside for the Green Deal launch, to test ‘key elements’ of the scheme, which will give householders low-cost loans to make energy-efficiency improvements to their properties.

Householders will then repay the loan through their energy bills, which can pass to any new occupier or bill payer. The government expects that the instalment payments will not exceed the savings on an average bill.

According to DECC, the money will help ‘support future Green Deal activity in these cities, raise awareness of the Green Deal significantly through community engagement and show homes, and provide support to local supply chains including trained Green Deal advisors and registered installers’.

Energy-efficiency measures

Explaining why these seven cities were chosen, Energy Secretary Edward Davey said: “These cities have really ambitious plans to lower their emissions, reduce energy use and help people save money on their bills. I’ve been really impressed by their plans to start testing the Green Deal and transforming our homes and buildings.

“This funding will help them get up and running, and I look forward to seeing a number of properties across whole communities get the energy efficient improvements they need.”

‘Key elements’ that are now to be tested include assessing the viability of installing the scheme and understanding public reaction ahead of the official launch of the deal on 1 October.

In Bristol, a £2 million share of the fund will deliver energy-efficiency measures to 600 households across the city, with at least 100 households on low incomes able to access fully-subsidised packages. And in Birmingham, the £2.6 million share will be used to improve ‘hard-to-reach’ settings such as tower blocks in ‘dire need’ of energy-efficiency improvements, amongst others.

All of the cities are also proposing to generate match funding and/or provide direct support themselves.

Calls for assessment clarity

However, concerns have been raised from industry professionals over how the assessment pricing structure for the industry and the consumer will work. As property improvements are carried out through loans that are recovered through energy bills, there are also worries that if the homeowners or tenants are unable to pay their bills, contractors could lose a significant amount of money.

Green Deal advisors, Green Deal Consulting, have raised questions over the assessment pricing, saying ‘With an upfront cost which could be in excess of £150, customers risk paying for an assessment that could lead to no benefit’.

Andy Wynter from Green Deal Consulting added: “I know I speak on behalf of other members of the industry when I say that I am growing tired with the lack of clarity on the matter.

“I have asked at meeting after meeting with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Green Deal providers, typical costs of assessments and have met a blank wall, and once again those who are responsible have continued to skirt around the issue.

“It is outrageous that with less than two weeks until the launch of the Green Deal, people like the Energy Secretary are operating on guesswork. They should not be 'guessing' how providers will conduct the assessment process, it's absurd.”

When contacted by Resource, a spokesperson from DECC said: "We expect a variety of different payment mechanisms to be offered by the market for Green Deal assessments. Many potential Green Deal Providers have indicated that they are likely to offer the assessment for free as a way to attract potential customers.

"From 28 January 2013 Green Deal Providers will be able to offer Green Deal plans to consumers and begin delivering energy efficiency and heating measures worth an estimated £1.3 billion a year."

The spokesperson went on to add that the DECC will be making an announcement "shortly" about a time-limited introductory offer to incentivise early take up of the Green Deal.

Green Deal Roadshow

DECC and the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings (EEPB) are now hosting a second round of Green Deal roadshow breakfasts for the supply chain to ensure that as many companies as possible ‘get the opportunity to attend’ and find out more about the ‘opportunities’ offered to them through the Green Deal.

The roadshows will be held on 15, 19 and 26 October in London, Leicester and Middlesbrough, respectively.

In April of this year, DECC announced that the Green Deal for businesses, originally scheduled to start on 1 October with domestic properties, will be delayed due to their ‘complex’ requirements. Plans for a ‘managed launch’ were suggested, but no specific date has yet been released.