The Green Deal Scheme Explained

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Here is a list of questions answered, which were quite popular on the basis:

How do I get a Green Deal Assessment?

A landlord or owner occupier of a domestic or commercial property can instigate a Green Deal Assessment. This can be done by engaging with a Green Deal Provider and they will instruct their affiliated Green Deal Assessor/ installer or alternatively the request can be made to a Green Deal Approved installer who is accredited with a Green Deal Provider.

Who pays for the Green Deal Assessment?

There are currently two models that are being offered by the industry. The first, the Green Deal Provider  offers to pay for the cost of the assessment (currently between £100 – £150) however the provider will often tie the individual into using their affiliated  installation partners without being able to obtain comparative quotes. The alternative is for the property owner to pay for the assessment personally which will then enable them to obtain a number of comparative quotes from a number of different providers.

What measures will be suggested?

The initial Green Deal software will give a bias towards ensuring the basic measures of insulation (cavity, loft, wall etc) are covered off first to ensure the building envelope is as thermally efficient as possible. Once these works have been completed then an additional assessment can be carried out 12-18 months later to assess the viability of other measures. This will ensure any product technological advances can be implemented as quickly as possible. The Green Deal Advice Report will mention all measures that would be suited to the property. This gives the homeowner the option to part fund other measures separately.

Who has ownership of the Green Deal Assessment Report?

The property owner retains ownership of the Green Deal Report.

Do I have to agree to all of the measures that have been suggested?

No, the Green Deal Advice Report will list all of the measures that are suited to the property, those measures that can be financed under the Green Deal will be annotated with a green ‘tick’ which means that they meet the ‘Golden Rule‘ in that the savings achieved from the measures installed will be greater than the repayments of the loan.

What if I want other measures carried out.

The Green Deal Advice report will list all of the measures suited to the property. Once the basic insulation measures have been completed the property owner does have the option to contribute towards the cost of installing measures that are not completely funded by the Green Deal.

Who can I get to do the installation work?

All Green Deal Installers must be accredited with a Green Deal Accreditation Organisation to be

allowed to display the Green Deal Installer Logo. This accreditation ensures that the installer has passed the stringent application process and has agreed to adhere to the Green Deal Code of Practice.

What protection do I get for my installation?

All Green Deal Providers, Assessors and Installers must adhere to the Green Deal Code of Practice. The document sets out in detail how each element of the Green Deal process will be delivered and the conditions under which organisations must conduct their business activities.

Is it available for commercial properties?

It has been the Governments intention to run both the domestic and commercial Green Deal in parallel however it was announced earlier this month that the Green Deal Finance Bank would be concentrating on domestic Green Deal Loans in the first instance and the commercial sector would start 6-9 months later (see also alternatives to the Green Deal below)

Are there any alternatives to the Green Deal?

Several of the leading financial institutions are developing loan products that are linked to mortgages to compliment the Green Deal Finance being offered to domestic households. For commercial properties there are a number of specialist finance brokers who specialise in funding energy efficiency projects.

Regardless of which finance route is taken it is often beneficial to start with a Green Deal Assessment as this will highlight all of the measures that would be relevant to the property and is a standardised impartial process.