As part of our Community Development Focus Group, “green initiatives” are one of the many areas the group is working on. We are aware that the Government is currently running two initiatives and one is receiving bad press whilst the other other is not very well known, so we thought it prudent to update our members just to clarify the latest information to allow you to take an informed view.
Green Deal (Green Homes Grant Scheme) – This scheme was set up to help homeowners make energy saving improvements to their homes, such as insulation, heating, draught proofing etc.. The scheme involves a voucher system that homeowners could apply for and the vouchers represented a sum of money (£5,000) that could be exchanged for part payment of the work. However, take up of this scheme has been poor, in part as the vouchers in some cases were not forthcoming by the UK Government so the works could not go ahead in many cases. It seems now the Government is looking to withdraw this scheme in April, due to lack of take up, in part caused by erratic voucher support.
Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)-Is another scheme formed by the UK Government to encourage private households, communities and businesses to install renewable energy technologies for heating purposes, through financial support. The RHI scheme has been extended for a further 12 months. It will run until 31st March 2022. The difference with this scheme is the incentive money is claimed after the owner pays for the improvements. So in reality maybe out of reach for some. The benefit of the scheme is that the Government will pay back £10-12000, dependent on energy assessment, over 8 years to reimburse the outlay, but as stated this differs from the “up front” voucher scheme. One option taken up by one of our members was to take out a loan to cover the cost of the works knowing they would be reimbursed over said period of time. In doing so they have completely reformatted their energy supply for their home thus future proofing their property for the foreseeable future.
If you are interested in the schemes there are suppliers out there who are happy to advise and help. Government information is available here or you can contact us.
Community Development Focus Group