UPDATE: As of 30 March 2016, the government has stopped funding and the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is closed to new applications. You can read about it here.

GDHIF is relaunching on the 10th December 2014 at 9am

The original GDHIF scheme was so popular, the funding lasted just 6 weeks, however the great news is that GHDIF is set to return!

What is the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund?

At the end of June 2014, the existing Green Deal Cashback scheme was replaced with the new Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF). The GDHIF launched at the beginning of June 2014, meaning there was a little overlap between the two schemes. Unfortunately, due to the generous nature of the funding, it lasted a mere 6 weeks, allowing only very few people to take advantage of the scheme.

Good news though, it has now been announced that the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is due to reopen from 10th December 2014 at 9am.

Under the revised scheme, there is one headline change that has been made – the amount available for the installation of solid wall insulation has dropped from £6,000 to £4,000 so not quite as good, but still definitely worth considering. Also under the old scheme it would cover up to 75% of the job, now it will only cover 67% of the job.

The maximum grant therefore available to households in the new version of the scheme is £5,600.

The details of the revised GDHIF scheme can be seen below.

Eligibility Criteria for the GDHIF Scheme

To be eligible for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, the customer must:

• Be a householder living in either England or Wales (it is open to both homeowners and landlords (private and social)
• Have a Green Deal Assessment carried out within the last 24 months, and therefore in possession of the Green Deal Report (there is a £100 rebate for Green Deal Reports).
• The Green Deal Report must include the recommendations that the household wants to install.
• The application for the cashback must take place prior to any works being installed.
• Not receive any ECO or other Government Funding (although you can take out Green Deal finance with the GDHIF).
• When applying for the cashback, you must have received a quote from a Registered Participant for the Installation Work which includes name, address, the installation company as well the cost of the works.

What type of energy efficiency measures will the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund cover?

Nothing is new in this respect if you are already well informed about the Green Deal – as you will know it will allow you to pay for things like energy efficient boilers, heating controls, solid wall insulation and double glazing. The surprising exclusion from the list of measures included in the GDHIF is loft insulation.

How much cashback can I claim under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund?

There are two core offers under the relaunched GDHIF incentive scheme which are detailed below, but you can take out both core offers together and therefore potentially you may be eligible for £5,600 in total.

GDHIF Core Offer 1:

Customers installing solid wall insulation (internal or external) are eligible to claim up to 67% of the installation cost up to a maximum of £4,000. For example if the works cost £3,000 in total – they would be eligible for £2,000 cashback and have to fund the other £1,000 out of their own pocket or via Green Deal finance. If the works cost £6,000 then they can claim the full £4,000 cashback and therefore will just need to fund £2,000.

>>> SEE OUR SOLID WALL INSULATION CASE STUDIES <<<

In order to claim the cashback on GDHIF Core offer 1, the home must have at least 50% of the external heat loss walls insulated (i.e. there is not heat loss between terraced houses, so only the front and back need insulation) – 50% of this would need to be down to get the cashback.

GDHIF Core Offer 2

Core offer 2 is focused on the more traditional energy efficient measures but requires at least 2 measures to be installed from the list below. Customers can claim up to 75% of the combined installation costs up to a maximum of £1,000.

Energy Efficient Measures Included:

• Condensing mains gas boiler (one only)
• Cavity Wall Insulation (at least 50% of the external wall)
• Secondary glazing (at least 50% of the glazing)
• Double / Triple glazing (when replacing single glazing – and at least 50% of the glazing)
• Flat roof insulation (total area of all flat roof)
• Replacement warm-air unit
• Fan-assisted storage heaters (at least three)
• Energy Efficient replacement doors (at least two)
• Floor insulation (at least 50% of the ground floor)
• Room-in roof insulation (100% of roof area)
• Waste water heat recovery

Remember you need to take 2 of these measures to claim back any cashback!

Bonus GDHIF Offers

There are also two bonus offers provided you either take core offer 1 or core offer 2.

1. GDHIF Home Buyers bonus – £500

If you have purchased your home in the last 12 months you are entitled to an additional £500 cashback as a one off bonus.

2. GDHIF GDAR Bonus

The Government are keen to encourage homeowners to take out full Green Deal Assessments, therefore customers can claim up to £100 towards the cost of the Green Deal Assessment.

How do I apply for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund?

Well, the best thing to do is to have a Green Deal Assessment – because having this on your property will mean a qualified surveyor can tell you all about the additional measures and funding streams that you can access via the Green Deal, such as Green Deal Finance.

A Green Deal Advice Report will also provide you with the necessary paperwork to submit your Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) application. So if you are installing Solar Thermal, an Air Source Heat Pump or Biomass boiler this report is needed

More good news! Although an Green Deal Assessor Organisation like ours would charge £132 (including VAT) for this assessment you can actually claim back £100 off that cost if you go through with the scheme and get measures installed resulting in a cost to you of just £32!

The other way is simply to use an EPC, however it needs to be less than two years old – the issue is that the EPC software automatically calculates the recommendations on the report. With a Green Deal Report, your assessor can select the measures you want installed – so for example if you need a new boiler, but it relatively new so there is little efficiency gain, an EPC would not recommend this, but a Green Deal Report can over rule the recommendations and recommend it regardless.

What happens next with the cashback process?

You will need to have your property assessed and any recommendations that come up on the Green Deal Assessment report or the EPC can be used to claim the cashback (subject to the conditions listed above).

You can then contact a Green Deal Provider or an Installer to facilitate the installation and registration process. Please note the Provider or the Installer have to be Green Deal Registered companies, so you cannot claim cashback from an installer down the road, unless they are PAS2030 certified. You can however claim cashback from any registered Green Deal Provider.

Our view is that it is probably still best to deal with a Green Deal Provider, in particular if you are looking to combine the energy efficiency improvements, because the Providers will have access to a wide network of trained installers, so will not only deliver you a boiler, but loft and solid wall insulation as well.

Also an Provider can give you additional funding via Green Deal Finance, which will mean that you will need to pay less out in upfront cost towards the cost of the job.

Is the Green Deal Home Improvement Plan a game changer?

We think that increasing the amount of funding available to home to get energy efficiency measures installed is a fantastic thing. The Green Deal, as it was set up,  should be delivering insulation as well as upgrades to heating and renewable systems simultaneously as this is proven to be the most effective may of improving a property.

The key thing here is to make sure that as a nation we insulate and bring the heat demand of our homes down, whilst operating highly efficient heating systems. Combining the energy efficiency improvements in a multi-measure approach is the key to keep costs down and keep it simple for the customer, and the additional cashback now available should help to facilitate this.

Think we missed something? Do you have a different opinion?

Comment below to get your voice heard…

Do you need an assessment to get Green Deal Finance & Cashback

Yes – in order to access any Green Deal finance or Cashback you will need a Green Deal Report produced by a certified Green Deal Assessor.

Can I take my Green Deal report to any provider?

Yes – the Green Deal Report is portable, so regardless of who carries out the assessment, you can get quotes from any Green Deal Provider.

Can I use my current builder to install the work?

Yes – provided the builder is a Green Deal Approved installer (PAS2030 certified). If they aren’t, you can still use them, but you won’t be able to access the Green Deal finance or Green Deal cashback.

Can a landlord benefit from the Green Deal?

Recent changes to the Green Deal Legislation means that landlords can now get Green Deal finance, so they can get measures installed in their properties and the bill payer will make the Green Deal finance payments on the measures (which is obviously advantageous in the case of tenants paying their utility bills).

Do I have to pay interest on Green Deal Finance?

Yes – The interest rate for Green Deal finance is set at 6.96%. On the face of it, this is quite a high interest rate, however the loan is fixed – taking into account solid wall insulation is paid back over 25 years, they have had to opt for a rate that is high enough to cover any future interest price rises by the bank of England.

What is ECO?

ECO or the Energy Company Obligation is the grant part of the Green Deal scheme. You can find out more about ECO here – but in some cases you can use this Grant in conjunction with Green Deal finance to ensure that there is no upfront payment.

What types of charges are associated with Green Deal finance?

Aside from the 6.96% interest rate, there is a Green Deal Finance Company charge and an Energy Company charge that go towards cover the compliance and administration costs to set up and administer the Green Deal Plan.

Aside from Green Deal finance and cash back – why would I get a Green Deal Assessment?

We find that many of our customers are simply getting the Green Deal Advice Report (GDAR) since they are not sure where to start on their own properties in terms of improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

When the assessor visits your home (provided they are good!), they will provide you with numerous tips and tricks on how to lower your bills, as well as letting you know what other schemes feed into the Green Deal, like the Renewable Heat incentive and the Feed-in Tariff

The Green Deal is now also a legal requirement to be able to get the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) – excluding self-build properties.

Is the Green Deal a Grant?

The Green Deal is not a grant – you borrow money against the energy savings that the measure installed creates. For example, replacing an old boiler with a new energy efficient model will allow you to heat the home using less gas – which will produce a saving on your gas bill.

How long is my Green Deal Report Valid For?

The Green Deal Report is valid for 10 years (*source Energy Saving Advice Service helpline 0300 123 1234) provided the property doesn’t undergo major changes during that time that would impact its energy efficiency.

Can I use my existing EPC to get a Green Deal Report?

If there has been an EPC carried out on your property after April 2012, then the assessor may choose to use the information provided. However, in our experience very few assessors will be happy to accept existing EPCs since the accuracy of them tends to be rather variable depending on the quality of the assessor!

If, since getting the EPC, major works have taken place to the property that will have significantly altered its energy efficiency, you will need to get a new EPC completed regardless.

What Will my Green Deal Report Look like?

The Green Deal Report is a 5-page document – you can click here to see an example of what the report looks like, and you can click here to learn exactly what each of the different sections on the report looks like.

How do I go about claiming Green Deal Cashback?

A full, step-by-step guide to applying for cashback can be found here  

What if I don’t have 12 months of energy bills

If you do not have any information regarding energy bills, or have lived in the property fewer than 12 months then the Green Deal Report will not be able to provide you with accurate savings tailored to you. However, this does not affect the amount of funding you may receive as this is taken from a typical household living in your property.

Why is there a fee for the assessment?

The fee is based on the work required to produce the report, including the site survey, travel time and lodgement fees. In some cases councils may fully subsidise the cost of a Green Deal Assessment, or energy companies might try and offer free assessments in return for taking out other services they offer. On the whole though, all independent assessors will charge for the assessment as one might expect for a professional service.

The fees for the assessment vary between suppliers, we for example charge £110 + VAT for our Green Deal surveys.

Can I repay the Green Deal Early?

You can absolutely pay back the Green Deal early if you want to, although in some cases there might be an early repayment charge.

Typically if the original length of the Green Deal plan was under 15 years, then the repayment charge is likely to be very small (under £8,000 left and it will actually be zero)

If you originally took out a Green Deal plan over 15 years, the early repayment charge is a little more difficult to calculate – and involves comparing the fixed interest charge on your individual Green Deal plan (i.e. at December 2013 – 6.96%), with the current interest being charged on Green Deal plans – but even so the repayment charge is capped at a low level.

For more details on the Green Deal early repayment please click here.

Is the work done under Green Deal guaranteed?

Yes – all work carried out under the Green Deal scheme (including installations done under the Green Deal) is provided with a Green Deal Guarantee. This guarantees that if the measure goes wrong within 5 years (or 25 years in the case of cavity walls and solid walls), the Green Deal provider will rectify the problem free of charge. If the Green Deal Provider goes bust in that time frame, the liability should be covered by the insurer who has underwritten the policy.

In the case of damage to the property resulting from a Green Deal installation, you can get the Green Deal provider to come and sort the issue within 10 years of the original measure being installed.

Can I still switch my energy provider?

There are various different energy companies signed up to the Green Deal including the Big six – British Gas, EDF, E.On, nPower & SSE. In addition, there are some small suppliers also signed up including Flow, Green Energy and Opus.

Provided you are swapping between these energy suppliers then there is absolutely no problem since the Green Deal finance amount is set. If you have a Green Deal plan in place, you will be unable to move from the supplier offering Green Deal finance to another provider who doesn’t offer the finance.

What if you can’t afford the Green Deal finance charge anymore?

Much like when you default on energy bills, if you suddenly find yourself in a position where you can’t pay the Green Deal portion of the bill you would eventually be disconnected.

There are obviously a few steps they will take before they disconnect you for instance they may agree to defer payments or connect you up to a prepayment meter – in addition in some cases they will not disconnect the home during the winter.

What happens if I move house?

The Green Deal is tied to your electricity meter (i.e. your home), not to you, so if you sell your property, the debt will pass on to the next assessor.

If you do decide to sell or let out the property, you will need to disclose the details of the Green Deal payments to the incoming bill payer.

London has undergone many waves of house building, with each type of home creating their own energy efficiency problems and areas for improvement.

It was 1965, that Building Regulations introduced the first limits on the amount of energy that could be lost through certain elements of a newly built house. However even until very recently, building standards were not sufficient to create what we would consider an efficient property.

Most housing in London was built well before building regulations really took effect and therefore it is fair to say that the majority is poorly insulated and fitted with inefficient heating systems. Yet these are very fixable problems.

There are plenty of ways you can improve the efficiency of your home, whether it be a 1900 Victorian terrace or a 1980s detached house. We thoroughly recommend an energy consultation to work out what is best for your home, as each property really is different and there is nothing better than tailored and personalised advice.

Having said this, you can tell a lot about a house by its age. As such, we can make some recommendations on the best steps for your home. It goes without saying that loft insulation should be up to standard (270mm) before you look at anything else – it really is the number 1 way to make your home more efficient, but here are some other key things you might want to consider to help lower your energy bills:

Pre 1930 London Properties:

• Solid Walls – Seen on almost all Pre 1930’s homes, solid walls are very inefficient. You can insulate with either external or internal insulation and there is funding available to do so.
• Timber floors in the majority of the home with cold solid concrete floor kitchens – It is fairly typical on Victorian terraces to see floorboards in the main area of the property and solid concrete floors in the extension. You should draught proof your floorboards using Draughtex and look at floor insulation – although this may involve lifting up the floorboards.
• Sash windows – Large single glazed sash windows are fairly typical on homes built in this era. Sash window double-glazing is expensive, and there is usually a cheaper option like refurbishment or draught proofing. You can read more on this here. Remember, old properties like this typically have lots of chimneys, so make sure you have them blocked off or use a chimney balloon to cut out draughts here since these cold draughts can very quickly strip the home of any hot air.

1930’s London Properties:

• Cavity Walls – After 1930, cavity walls became standard. This is great news for you, because cavities are very easily insulated and can make a big difference to your bills – they are simply injected from the outside with cavity wall insulation.
• Suspended timber floors  – Most 1930’s homes have timber floors, which can be either insulated or draught proofed.
• Draught Proofing – Once again these homes could well be draughty so it is worth looking at getting your doors and windows draught proofed.

Post war 1945-70 London Properties:

• Flat roofs – This isn’t always the case, but flat roofs became popular post-war, and were rarely well insulated. If you have one, make sure you look into flat roof insulation, this process is not as easy as you might hope, however the Government are currently offering £550 cashback if you were to opt getting this insulation installed via the Green Deal scheme.
• System Built Houses – If you live in a prefab or a flat, you could be losing a lot of heat through the walls. You should look into wall insulation – this could be either cavity or solid wall.
• Flats / Mid-High Rise – Flats present their own problems because the envelope of your home includes other people’s property, although having said that, where you have a party wall with a neighbour there should be no heat loss, so actually if you are in the middle of a block of flats this may actually be an advantage in terms of energy efficiency.

1970’s London Properties:

• Single glazing / smaller windows – Many 1970’s properties have small single glazed windows. Secondary glazing may well be worthwhile considering here.
• Cavity Walls – After the 60’s regulations on new homes meant that some insulation was fitted as standard, but it is still worth checking your cavity walls, as these were generally not insulated.
• Watch out for old boilers / electric heating (off grid / now on grid but still with electric heating) – The 1970’s was a time of energy uncertainty. Some properties were built without a gas supply and therefore use electric storage heaters. Others have even more unconventional heating systems like back boilers, gas room heaters and electric ceiling heating that could be costing you money. Look at whether you can change to gas central heating or take advantage of the RHI for renewable heating such as heat pumps.

Modern London Properties:

If you live in a relatively modern house, your cavity walls should have already been filled, but there are a few things you can still look out for:

• Loft Insulation top-up – Usually these properties have some loft insulation, but it may be worth getting a top up. Building regulations in the 80’s and 90’s was nowhere near today’s standards, so you could still save a tidy sum by getting more insulation.
• Old Boilers / heating systems – Houses around 20 years old may still have the original boiler present. It is really worth switching over to a modern one and is likely to be the biggest way to save on a modern property.
• Renewables – If your home is otherwise up to standard, it may be worth looking at renewable energy. Modern homes are likely to have roofs suitable for solar panels and technologies such as heat pumps work best in well insulated homes like yours.

UPDATE: As of 30 March 2016, the government has stopped funding and the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is closed to new applications. You can read about it here. 

When the Green Deal launched in early 2013, it had set the ambition of being the biggest retrofit buildings programme since World War Two; however the recently released Green Deal take-up figures from the Government have shown that thus far, this is definitely not the case!

Will then, the Green Deal be a bit of a damp squib and be confined to the dustpan of legislation programmes or is the sluggish start just like a longish runway before eventual take-off?

In this blog we explore some of the most typical questions that consumers are interested in when it comes to this programme and we provide our own view of how we have seen the programme roll-out over the last year or so.

Is the Green Deal Free?

One of the criticisms of the Green Deal is the initial cost of getting an assessment. Unfortunately, getting independent advice from a company not aligned with a Provider is going to cost you money. There is no government money towards getting a free or cheaper assessment.

Some customers who fall into certain benefit groups and those in certain postcodes, who have clear need of ECO funding towards a measure such as cavity or loft insulation, or a new boiler, could get a free assessment as part of this process, but it does not apply to everyone. You can give us a call or an email if you think you may qualify for a free assessment in this way.

So is the Green Deal worth it?

Having said that there is a cost involved, we think the cost of the assessment should be seen as more of an investment. Chances are you will find out about measures you can install or little things you could do that will save you many times the assessment cost in the long run. We find that customers who approach the assessment as a learning and fact finding experience get more out of their assessment. Just make sure you ask lots of questions when you meet your assessor. If they don’t know the answer, they will find out for you.

Is the Green Deal Interest Free?

No. There is a fixed interest rate attached of around 7-8% APR. This means that if you can afford to pay for the work up front, it will be cheaper for you in the long run. If you can’t however, the Green Deal is a one way of securing the funding before getting the work completed.

Where can I find Providers?

We are obligated to direct you to the Green Deal Orb, which has a list of all accredited providers, installers and assessing organisations. Unfortunately, the way the scheme works means that many companies claim to be nationwide, or say they can install any measure, because it allows them to generate leads that they can sell on.

This means that the providers that really do offer what you need can be tricky to find. We recommend that you ask your assessor for several local Green Deal Providers you can contact – as this can really expedite the process and ensure that the companies you are contacting really do offer the service they claim they do.

Why can’t I Find a Company that does the energy efficiency measure that I want on the Green Deal?

Many Green Deal Providers tend to focus on a few key measures that they can deliver, like wall insulation, or boilers. That is why it is worth ringing around to find a Provider that can help you. Unfortunately, there are some areas of the country and some measures which are as yet not covered by the Green Deal – it is really worth asking your assessor what measures are currently covered in your area and what you may have to get done privately.

If you are after something specific, it is really worth trying to find a provider that will do the work before you go for your assessment.

The Green Deal Favours certain Technologies

The Green Deal is great for more cost effective measures (for example loft insulation), since it has a low initial install cost and creates big yearly energy savings.

When we get customers ringing who are looking for something like double glazing that is not really cost effective (savings are minimal and the cost of installation is high), we will normally advise them the Green Deal may not be for them – since the amount of finance they will have access to will be negligible.

A good Green Deal Advisor Organisation (and we include ourselves here) should give you an honest appraisal over the phone – if they promise you the earth, it is often to good to be true!

Is it true that Green Deal cashback is set to finish in early 2014?

The Green Deal cashback scheme is not finished yet! The government recently announced that the cashback scheme would accept applications for cashback until at least June 2014, so there is still plenty of time to take advantage.

Be aware however, some providers are not setup to do Green Deal Cashback. It is really worth finding a Provider that does, because you can get paid up to £1,000 for installing some measures.

The Government also announced the amount of cashback available under the Green Deal has increased – you can find more out on this here.

Any other questions about the Green Deal?

If you have any questions about the Green Deal, Energy Efficiency or Self Generation, please do get in touch on 0208 144 0897 or mailbox@thegreenage.co.uk.

Household temperature is joint top cause of festive family squabbles in Britain

Research released today by energy efficiency experts TheGreenAge has revealed that one in four UK adults (26%) have had an argument about the central heating, a figure expected to rise over the Christmas period as families spend more time together at home.

Of those that have argued about central heating:

• 74% have argued over the temperature of the house
• 23% have argued over the date the heating is fully switched on for winter
• 28% have argued over the time their heating goes on and off each day
• 42% have argued about how long the heating is on for each day

The survey, commissioned to encourage people to consider having a Green Deal assessment, found that Brits are also a nation of “secret heaters”, with 44% of female cohabiters admitting that they have switched on the heating without their housemates or partner’s consent, while a further 39% confessed to having covertly turned up the heating when no one was watching.

Two in five male cohabiters (42%) admitted to having secretly reduced the temperature at home, and 38% claimed they had switched it off completely, without telling their housemates.

In addition, the findings showed that the issue of ‘home central heating’ has now joined ‘cleaning chores’ at the top spot in a list of things British adults argue about at home, sitting above:

• Choosing which TV shows to watch (22%)
• DIY improvements (18%)
• Duvet hogging (15%)
• Choosing what to eat (13%)
• Grocery Shopping (12%)

Professor Michael Tipton from Portsmouth University said: “The drive to maintain a stable warm environment is very strong in humans. However, men and women have a very different physiology and perception when it comes to temperature. Women tend to feel the cold more and are driven to take immediate action, whilst men are generally less sensitive to cold, and therefore consider factors such as the financial implications of heating the home.  

“We are very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and therefore what we need is a shift in the structural make up of the home to ensure a stable temperature environment suitable for both sexes. This can be achieved in the long term by better-insulated homes, which prevent excessive and impromptu use of heating and some of the conflict this causes.”

James Alcock, TheGreenAge Director said: “These findings show that family quarrels about the central heating have become as much of a Christmas tradition as turkey, presents and mince pies. With a cold winter setting in, people want to know how they can keep their homes warm and cosy without generating budget busting bills. Improving the energy efficiency of their homes is the answer and a having a Green Deal assessment should be the first step towards doing this”.

Free and impartial advice on making energy saving improvements to your home is available from the Energy Saving Advice Service on 0300 123 1234.

-ENDS-

What is the Energy Company Obligation?

The Government has announced this week that it is to change one of its key components of domestic energy policy, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). This change comes only a year after the scheme was launched and is the result of aggressive lobbying from the energy companies.

In May 2010 the Coalition pledged to become the ‘greenest government ever’, and since then it has tried to live up this pledge by implementing schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for both commercial and domestic properties and the Green Deal & ECO. However, the Government has already been accused of watering down these fledgling ‘green’ policies.

To those reading this who are unaware of what the Green Deal and ECO are; put simply they are the two schemes (that can be used in conjunction with one another) that are charged with making homes more energy efficient. They allow households to improve the energy efficiency of their homes without have to make any big up-front investment and in some cases measures can be installed completed free of charge.

The Green Deal part is for those homes that want to increase their energy efficiency but don’t have the funds to necessarily do this straight away. The Green Deal allows homeowners to take out a fixed loan that they repay back through the savings they make on their electricity bills; whereas ECO is the grant component funded by the energy companies that fully or partially pays for energy efficiency measures. It can work standalone to help pay for insulation and new boilers for vulnerable members of society or partially subsidise Green Deal measures like solid wall insulation, which would otherwise be too cost prohibitive in the free market.

Where ECO gets a bit more complicated is that it actually has 3 components: Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation (HHCRO), Carbon Saving Community Obligation (CSCO) and the Carbon Emission Reduction Obligation (CERO) – this year the Government committed to £1.3bn of home improvement funding and the energy companies were obligated to pay for these improvements.

In the following sections we look at the changes the Government are making to the ECO scheme.

Changes to ECO – impact analysis

Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation (HHCRO)

This part of ECO is designed to help the most vulnerable members of society get insulation and cost saving heating measures to be installed. So for example if you are on pension credit you may be eligible for a free boiler replacement as well as loft and cavity wall insulation – this is subject to a detailed eligibility assessment.

Impact of policy change: the Government has committed to maintaining the funding levels for this particular obligation and has even gone as far as extending the funding at the same level for a further two years (until 2017).

Although on the face of it, there is no change to this element of ECO, we are awaiting news on whether the funding will move from an obligation on the energy companies to general taxation.

Carbon Saving Community Obligation (CSCO)

This particular obligation was set-up to assist with insulation measures for some of the most deprived areas of the country as defined by the ECO order. So in practice if your postcode is in one of these LSOAs (sub-division of a district), then your home may be eligible for free insulation such as loft, cavity and solid wall.

Impact of policy change: Like the HHCRO funding, the Government has promised that the amount available will not be cut but in fact they are going to maintain the same level of funding for an additional 2 years (till 2017).

The combined investment of the HHCRO and CSCO is worth around £540million per year and the Government is saying this will remain while they may act in the future by taking other elements of the ‘social and environmental’ subsidy off your current energy bills to general taxation. We will let you know as soon as we know more!

Carbon Emission Reduction Obligation (CERO)

The CERO part of the obligation was designed to help insulate some of the most energy inefficient solid wall and ‘hard-to-treat’ cavity wall properties, which is integral to the delivery of the Green Deal. Insulating these homes would have the biggest impact on reducing heating costs and tackling carbon emissions, but they are also more costly to target.

Currently the Government have set aside about £760million per year for investing in this area, however the recent changes in policy are going to hit this quite hard.

Impact of the policy change: A 33% cut will translate to a cut in funding from £760million to around £507million per year. This has been translated to a cut in the target of 80,000 to 25,000 (or 100,000 by the end of 2017) properties being insulated under this part of the scheme.

Also the priorities have slightly changed – so cavity wall and loft insulation will also be offered under this obligation as they are cheaper measures, so the theory is that ‘more’ could be done with less resources.

While this part of the obligation will still be funded by the energy companies, time will tell whether more pressure at some point in the future will force further cuts to these programmes.

Other changes proposed to domestic energy efficiency programmes

With the current reform of ECO, the Government has also had a chance to reform the current Green Deal. The main changes proposed here are further ‘cash giveaways’ to the tune of £540million, helping new home buyers invest in energy efficiency and increasing the funds available for the roll-out of this scheme on a street-by-street / community basis.

Find out whether the changes to ECO are justified – visit page 2

What is an EPC?

An Energy Performance Certificate is a document which details the energy rating of your property (much like the rating system for appliances). This includes a breakdown of current efficiencies of certain aspects of the home, like the heating system, the walls, the windows as well as identifying ways to improve the efficiency of the home.

The EPC rates your house between 0 and 100, with a lettering scale of A to G associated with it. The average home in the UK is a 60, or D rating, but there is considerable variation depending on the type of property and the efficiency measures that have been carried out.

Does my home have an existing EPC?

There is an online register (www.epcregister.com) where you can find any EPC produced. If your property has an existing EPC, it will be found here.

If you are buying a property, or looking to become a tenant, the owner or estate agent should be able to provide you with the EPC for the prospective property.

Once you get your hands on the actual EPC report, you can see the date that it was completed – if it was more than 2 years ago it is quite likely now that it will be inaccurate, however an EPC in theory is good for 10 years from the lodgement date.

What do I need an EPC for and where do I get one?

Since 2007 it has been a prerequisite if you are selling, renting or building a property. If you are renting out a property for more than four months a year, you will need an EPC. Remember, you need to get this done before you market your property, otherwise you could face a fine.

Most estate agents can arrange for an EPC to be completed on your property however they usually charge a lot more than an independent company sometime charging in excess of £120. TheGreenAge will carry out an EPC across Greater London from just £50 (+ VAT).

New EPC Regulations

It is also worth noting that from 2018 you will not be able to rent your property if it has an EPC rating of 38 or less (band F & G). Therefore it makes sense now to start making the changes to your home to ensure it adheres to the new legislation.

Is an EPC useful?

The EPC can be really useful as it gives you an idea of the things to target to lower your energy bills, however since most people get an EPC just to sell their homes, they are often seen as an extra expense – a box ticking exercise. If you take the time to look, it can reveal a lot about your property, and what you should be looking to do to improve its energy efficiency.

People often have a somewhat distorted view of what constitutes a worthwhile efficiency improvement for their home. People get fixated on a new boiler or double-glazing when simple draught proofing or loft insulation is far cheaper and will do much more to reduce their bills. An EPC gives you the information required to see which measures you should target first.

On the EPC you will see a section with approximate savings for each proposed measure, along with the increase in energy rating associated with this improvement. Comparing the savings you will make to the cost of the measure is a really useful way to work out the best next steps for your home.

Drawbacks of EPC’s

Unfortunately, because EPC’s don’t take into account how you actually use energy in the home (e.g. how many people live there, how warm you like your rooms, how much hot water you use), they aren’t the most accurate tool for seeing how much you will save from certain measures.

For example, a house with 6 occupants and an average thermostat setting of 24 will use a lot more energy than a single occupant living in the same home who has the thermostat set to 18 degrees, even though an EPC would cite the same savings for both.

What is the Green Homes Grant?

The Green Homes Grant is a Government scheme aimed at helping homeowners install new energy saving measures in their homes, such as new boilers, insulation, low carbon heat or double glazing.

For the latest information on the Green Homes Grant, please visit the official Green Homes Grant website here.

Unlike the previous Green Deal scheme which was loan operated, the Green Homes Grant offers grants of up to £5000 and £10,000 to wholly or partially cover the full cost of the energy saving measure.

The Green Homes Grant was set up to help improve the energy efficiency of properties across the UK, since many of the properties we live in are very inefficient, with solid walls, old heating systems and very little insulation. This scheme allows people to improve their homes without having to stump up the entire upfront costs of the works.

How does the Green Homes Grant work?

The Green Homes Grant is divided in to two separate grants, which each have different eligibility criteria.

£5000 – available to any home in England that fits the correct criteria for the specific measure. This grant covers 2/3’s of the full cost and caps at £5000. There will be a remainder in all cases using this grant and it will be paid as a customer contribution.

£10,000 – available to any homeowner receiving certain benefits listed here, and whose home fits the correct criteria for the specific measure. This grant covers 100% of the full cost up to £10,000 and the remainder is paid as a customer contribution.

A basic worked example of the Green Homes Grant

The easiest way of showing this is using an example – so lets imagine you are fitting external insulation, using the Green Homes Grant.

e.g. Fitting external insulation on a small terraced house (approx 50sqm), using the £5000 green homes grant

The average supply and fit cost of external wall insulation is £120 per sqm (inclusive of materials, labour, VAT, skip hire, any extra remedial work required, scaffolding). Therefore, a 50sqm house would cost £6000.

In this case, 2/3’s of the full cost is £4000, so this is how much the Green Homes Grant would cover. The homeowner would pay the remainder of £2000.

e.g. Fitting external insulation on the same size house (50sqm), using the £10,000 Green Homes Grant

As above, the total cost of the works would amount to £6000. With the £10,000 grant, the whole £6000 would be covered by the Green Homes Grant and there would be no customer contribution.

If the house were bigger (for instance, 100sqm) the total cost would be £12,000, the Green Homes Grant would cover £10,000 of the amount and the homeowner would have to pay £2000.

Who can get the Green Homes Grant?

In theory, any home in England can access the Green Deal considering you are eligible, but the scheme has been specifically tailored to the private home owner or the private rental sectors. The reason being is that the social housing sector already has several ways in which improvements are funded and undertaken – namely the ECO scheme.

Check if you are eligible using the Government questionnaire.

The Green Homes Grant Process

The following section talks a bit more about how the Green Homes Grant process works end-to-end – starting with a finding a Trustmark approved installer to quote for the works.

1. Find a Trustmark approved installer to quote you for the works. The installer will also have to be registered to specific certifications regarding the measure they are installing – MCS/PAS2035. It is recommended to get three quotes for comparison.

2. Once you have agreed a quote with an approved installer, you can apply for the grant on the government website. You must not apply without receiving a formal quotation.

3. When you have submitted your application, it will take a few weeks until you receive your Green Homes Grant voucher. Work must not start before you receive the voucher.

5. Your installer will be notified when you receive the voucher, however it is always a good idea to let them know yourself and arrange a start date for the work to begin.
6. An installer will complete the work and you as the customer should be benefiting from the energy improvements.

How does the Green Homes Grant help improve homes?

By installing energy efficient measures in your home, it will help protect the environment, and lower your energy bills.

Types of measures currently covered in the Green Homes Grant scheme:

• Insulation Measures– Solid wall insulation (internal or external), Cavity wall insulation, Under-floor insulation (solid floor, suspended floor), Loft insulation, Flat roof insulation, Pitched roof insulation, Room in roof insulation, Insulating a park home
• Low Carbon Heat Measures – Air source heat pump, Ground source heat pump, Solar thermal (liquid filled flat plate or evacuated tube collector), Biomass boiler, Hybrid heat pump

How does the Green Homes Grant help improve energy awareness?

The Green Homes Grant provides homeowners with knowledge of energy efficient home improvements. In turn, better energy awareness should drive occupiers to use their energy more wisely, which should drive down the cost people pay. For example: reducing the temperature of the hot water cylinder thermostat, installing central heating thermostats in the correct location, reducing water levels in kettles, washing clothes in ‘eco-mode’, and turning off unused high energy usage appliances like chest freezers should all help with lower energy bills.

We list 100 ways to save energy in the home here – even if you adopt a few, you should see some nice energy savings on your utility bills.

The following scenario shows how you can take Green Deal Finance and pay-off the balance with your own personal contribution where the “golden rule” isn’t met. Note: the numbers have been adopted from an example provided on the Department of Energy and Climate Change website.

Replacing an Inefficient Boiler with an A-Rated Boiler

The example below assumes the installation takes place in a typical 3 bedroom semi-detached property:

Total 12 Year Net Benefit to customer

£340 – £5 per annum net bill saving plus £270 cashback

From Year 13 the customer will make the full £197 per annum saving (today’s prices) on the boiler when the finance is paid off.

THE GREEN DEAL JARGON BUSTER

The Green Deal is the Government’s flagship initiative aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock within the UK. This jargon buster should be useful to help you navigate around some of the more confusing terminology.

CERT (carbon emission renewable target) – This was introduced in 2008 to help the UK meet its legally binding carbon dioxide reduction target, as defined by the Kyoto Protocol. It was replaced in early 2013 by the Energy Company Obligation.

DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) – This is the Government ministry in the UK responsible for implementing policy and advising ministers on energy and climate change. The Secretary of State is currently Ed Davey MP and the Minister responsible for Green Deal delivery is Greg Barker MP.

ECO (Energy Company Obligation) – The Energy Company Obligation will see the energy companies spend about £1.3 billion a year for the next 10 years on subsidising home energy improvements. ECO will focus on providing energy efficiency measures to low income consumers and those living in ‘hard to treat’ properties, such as period homes. It will be used where the golden rule cannot be met as part of the Green Deal.

EER (Energy Efficiency Rating) – this shows the overall energy efficiency of a property and is measured by a rating from A-G. This is underpinned by a scale (1-100) and calculated by the RdSAP software, 1 is bad, 100 is perfectly energy efficient, with the national average around 60.

EPC (Energy performance certificate) – This is the 1st part of the Green Deal Assessment (and is also required when a homeowner rents or sells their property). This involves an assessor inspecting the dwelling, taking photos and noting various measurements like the heat loss perimeter, thickness of loft insulation and so forth. The finished EPC will give the home a rating out of 100 based on its energy efficiency and will highlight various solutions that would help improve the energy efficiency of the home.

Feed-in Tariff (FiT) – If you generate your own electricity, your energy provider will pay you for each kWh you produce, regardless of whether this is used in the house or sold back to the electric grid (however you will get a further payment if you sell it back to the grid). The rate paid varies based on the size of the system, the technology installed and when you put the system in. Currently wind, solar, micro-hydroelectric, micro-CHP and anaerobic digestion are the technologies covered by the FiT. To benefit, your installation needs to be MCS certified and completed by an MCS qualified installer.

Gemserv – this is the independent oversight body (set-up by the energy companies) to manage the day-to-day activities of the Green Deal on behalf of DECC. They are also responsible for setting up and managing the approval process for advisors, installers and products.

Golden Rule – this is the underlying principle the Green Deal has been built upon, which is: the cost of installing the energy efficiency measures should not exceed the anticipated savings they are expected to deliver. Simplifying this further, the savings you make from installing a measure are used to pay for it, your bill should not increase when you install the measures (except due to fuel price increases).

Green Deal – This is the Government’s flagship initiative to increase the energy efficiency of all homes in the UK. Energy efficiency improvements will be installed in homes with no upfront costs to the homeowner or tenant – the energy efficiency improvements are paid through the savings on the energy bill.

Green Deal Advisory Organisation (GDAO) – These organisations are responsible for managing the delivery of the green deal assessment and ensuring that the advisors give impartial and appropriate advice.

Green Deal Assessor – Sometimes referred to as a Green Deal Advisor, this is the person that completes the initial green deal assessment on the home, they need to be qualified, registered with a GDAO to advise and submit the Green Deal report.

The Green Deal Finance Company (TGDFC) – This is a not for profit company set up in March 2012 that provides a source of finance for all Green Deal Providers, and providing consistent quotes for specific loan amounts and durations across the whole of the scheme. Members include British Gas, Carillion, E.ON, EDF Energy, Insta Group, Kingfisher, Mark Group, nPower and SSE.

Green Deal Plan – This contains the contract the customer is undertaking by having the Green Deal. It includes the duration, the cost, the repayments and the anticipated energy savings from the installed measures.

Green Deal Provider – A provider organisation primarily manages the approval of the Green Deal Plan, arranging the financing and the installation of any Green Deal measures. They may also employ Green Deal Advisors so as to cover the whole end-to-end process.

Green Deal Report – this is a report issued by the Green Deal Advisor after completing the Green Deal Assessment. The assessment has two parts: one, the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and two, the occupancy assessment.

MCS (Microgeneration certification scheme) – a certification scheme that is administered by UKAS and represents a standard of quality that the industry should strive to achieve. On completion of this, installers of solar PV, wind and other self generation technologies will have proof of competency in their field. A customer that has an MCS certificate can claim for Feed-in Tariff payments.

Occupancy Assessment – This is the 2nd part of the Green Deal Assessment, and involves a short interview with the homeowner to better understand their energy usage patterns, further honing the accuracy of the EPC. This is key to the production of an accurate Green Deal Report.

RDSAP (Reduced Standard Assessment Procedure) – This is a customised piece of software that allows Green Deal assessors and Domestic Energy assessors to perform EPCs on existing properties. This is a simplified version of the full SAP and ensures compliance with building regulation Part L1B

Renewable Heat Incentive – Like the FiT, the renewable heat incentive is a payment made by the utility company for each unit of hot water you produce. The Renewable Heat Incentive is due to launch summer 2013.

SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) – This is the Government’s approved methodology for calculating the energy efficiency of dwellings in the UK. It works by assessing how much energy is consumed by a property and how much carbon dioxide is emitted to keep it at a defined level of comfort, thus allowing for comparisons between different houses.

Self Generation – Sometimes known as microgeneration, this refers to producing your own electricity or hot water using technologies like solar PV, wind turbines or solar collectors.