Welcome to The Green Deal

The Green Deal forms part of the Energy Act 2011, designed to reduce the UK's carbon emissions through large-scale improvement of the energy efficiency of residential buildings and infrastructure across Britain.

The Green Deal is a finance initiative which will ensure that no front costs are incurred by the householder and loans will be repaid through the savings made on fuel costs.

As things stand, the UK’s housing stock of 26m homes are among the world’s oldest and most inefficient. Only half of all UK homes are properly insulated, and 3 million are so leaky they pose significant health risks.

It costs us all millions in energy bills to stay warm, and most heat escapes through the walls, ceiling and windows. Thousands of people are wasting money they can’t afford on ancient – and sometimes dangerous - boilers. And it costs Government millions on curing us when we get sick: £850m as a direct result of badly insulated homes.

The Green Deal will lend individuals up to £30,000 to make homes energy efficient. Because the bill-payer repays this investment over 25 years, the monthly repayments will be low.

In fact, The Golden Rule stipulates:Savings Must Always Exceed Repayments.
In other words: the bill-payer will always save money. Independent accredited assessors will calculate which measures should be taken and energy efficient equipment should be installed.

Examples of energy efficiency improvements

Efficiency measures will be prioritised according to the potential savings on the energy bill. This guarantees that wasteful appliances and urgent issues will be dealt with first.

Cavity wall insulation: costs around £160 and repays in 2 years.
Full loft insulation: costs £100-350 and repays in 2-4 years.
An old boiler can be responsible for up to 60% of your energy bill.
A house can lose up to 70% of its heat through un-insulated walls and roof.

How The Green Deal will work:

The house is draughty, has an ancient boiler, and isn’t properly insulated.
The bill-payer finds a company who can make the home improvements and who meets the standard required by The Green Deal.
They assess the property to see which energy efficiency improvements will have the most significant impact on its energy bill.
They put together a 25 year projection of the future savings. This is how repayments are calculated. And this is where The Golden Rule comes in.

The debt is paid to the energy companies. And the debt is fixed to the meter. This means the debt is no longer a ball and chain. All repayments are linked to the energy bill, but in such small amounts that you’ll always be paying less than you were before the improvements. And if you move house, you leave the debt behind.
The Green Deal is designed to be enticing: the Government has carbon targets to hit, and has finally realised energy efficiency means cost efficiency. Combine that with rising energy prices and it’s clear how The Green Deal makes sense.

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