Green Deal Assessments
The Green Deal Concept
The Green Deal was a Government scheme set up to help property owners pay for energy efficient improvements to their homes or commercial premises.
Understanding the Green Deal
The idea was to encourage businesses and home owners to employ more green technologies in their properties, to reduce their fuel bills, without any upfront expenditure. The cost of the energy efficient upgrade would be paid for by a loan from the Green Deal Finance company who would then add the re-payments on to the property owners' fuel bills. The scheme involved a ‘Golden Rule’ which stated that the repayments for the measure should not be more than the savings on the energy bills after the energy efficient improvement had been installed. The loan, unlike a conventional loan, stays with the property and does not move with the person should the property change hands.
Green Deal Process
The first step in the Green Deal process involved the property owners commissioning a Green Deal Advisory Report (GDAR) to be carried out by a Green Deal Assessor who would survey the property in question and discuss with the property owner the potential energy efficient measures to consider. The property owner would then take the GDAR to a Green Deal installer who would in turn provide an estimate for the works and discuss the Green Deal finance options. The property owner would not be under any obligation to proceed with the works throughout the whole process until agreeing to the measures and any necessary finance agreement.
Applying for the Green Deal
In July 2015, the UK Government announced that they would no longer be funding the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC), so Green Deal Loans are not currently available.
Green Deal Update
It was announced (January 2017) that the Green Deal may be on the way back as the Green Deal Finance Company has now been bought by a financial consortium who are said to be keen to revive the energy efficient scheme, however, there hasn’t been any further progress thus far.