The Government has recently introduced an initiative called The Green Deal, which is designed to reduce carbon emissions and save energy in the home. The premise is that, if residential properties can be better insulated and have other energy efficiency improvements made to them, then energy demands will be reduced.
The Green Deal allows property owners to pay for the energy improvement measures with no up-front payment.
The idea is that the installers will install the appropriate energy enhancing measures (e.g. cavity wall insulation, solar panels, boilers etc.) at their cost. The householder will then repay the cost (together with interest fixed for the period) over many years, using the savings made through their reduced energy bills. The Green Deal repayments will be incorporated within the utility bills, which should be below the actual cost of the energy bills prior to the works being carried out.
The Government’s policy is to ensure that consumers are protected at all stages.
The works must be completed by registered installers who will be required to obtain the necessary planning and building regulations consents for the works being done. If the owners of a Green Deal property plan to sell or rent their property then there is a duty to disclose the existence of the Green Deal and its financial implications. The basic intention is that this will be achieved by disclosing the Green Deal in the Energy Performance Certificate. If a Green Deal is not disclosed, then a new owner or tenant can challenge the obligation to repay, which may then leave the debt with the seller or the landlord.
