After just 626 households sign up to the floundering Green Deal in its first year, the industry has called for the government to act now to save the flagship energy efficiency scheme

Numbers of households signing up to the scheme in the past month have dropped by a fifth, causing the industry to call on the government to ‘wake-up’ to problems with the scheme.

Chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, Paul King, said: ‘This latest set of figures, coming a year since the policy launched, should come as a wake-up call to government that the Green Deal is not delivering in its current form.
‘As a financial package, the Green Deal just doesn’t stack up. There are many attractive high street alternatives out there, with loans and credit cards generally available at more competitive rates to fund both the lower and higher value types of eligible energy-efficiency project. Other government incentives such as the recently announced reduction in stamp duty for those taking up the Green Deal are also not inclusive. The pot of money is too small and, worse still, this incentive will only apply to people who are buying or selling their home.’

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Householders warned to avoid Green Deal scam

A WARNING has been issued by police and trading standards about a Green Deal scam.

Bogus callers phone homeowners and tell them they are entitled to £10,000 of funding for home improvements. The person is asked to pay £149.99 for an energy performance assessment to be carried out.

However, the assessment is either never carried out or the work is undertaken but the householder does not receive a certificate which they should do under the Green Deal code of practice.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “The Green Deal can only be delivered through government contracted assessors and providers, identifiable by a unique government allocated number. Consumers are advised to look out for the Green Deal Approved quality mark. Only Green Deal assessors, providers and installers can use it. This shows they meet Green Deal standards and are authorised to operate under the Green Deal.”

Consumers taking out a Green Deal require an assessment completed by an authorised assessor who will visit your home, talk to you about your property and your energy use and help decide if you could benefit from Green Deal improvements.

If anyone has any information about a possible ‘Green Deal’ scam, they should contact the police on 101 or Trading Standards on 01463 228700. Further details about the scheme can be provided by the Energy Savings Trust on 0808 808 2282.

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Green deal: time to power on with energy saving

The roundtable's broad sentiment, however, was that the green deal and ECO could still be a success – if changes are made.

Establishing more trust, between householders and the people who are to "hold their hand" through the process of improving their home's energy efficiency, was crucial, many said. Although homeowners understand why energy companies are heavily involved in the area, they place greater trust in councils, local community groups and charities – which is why those organisations need to take a greater role in selling and delivering the schemes.

To get over consumer inertia, the financial savings from energy efficiency upgrades needed to be much more immediate, several people observed. One proposal, mooted by some in the building industry since the green deal's launch, has been to give owners of the most efficient homes discounts on stamp duty and council tax.

Removing the upfront costs of the assessments would help too, several people suggested. "If I [was government and] had a pot of money, instead of spending thousands on this and that [the coalition budget promoting the green deal and ECO], I'd give free assessments for some people," she said.

The focus in future, many agreed, should be about getting people to take out an assessment in the first place, and then letting them decide what to do next, rather than promoting the whole "green deal journey", as the government has done so far. Others felt that, if technical obstacles could be overcome, the assessor should be able to give more advice to the homeowner on what to do next.

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Ikea Selling Solar Panels

Ikea has begun selling solar panels to customers in the UK - in its trademark flat-pack style.

The Swedish firm said it was using Britain to test the ground for its plan to offer renewable energy to the mainstream market worldwide because of the country's current electricity prices and financial incentives from the Government.
The company said it was not the first general retailer to sell solar panels but claimed its partnership with Chinese firm Hanergy was the only one to provide a built-in care package.

Ikea said a standard, all-black 3.36-kilowatt system for a semi-detached home will cost £5,700 and include an in-store consultation and design service as well as installation, maintenance and energy monitoring service.

The company claimed the solar panel investment would pay for itself in about seven years for the average home.

The Government offers private solar panel owners the opportunity to sell back electricity to the grid on days when they have surplus production and has a financing plan for solar power investments, which means residents can buy a system for no up-front cost and pay it off gradually.
The panels are currently only sold in Southampton but Ikea said its stores across Britain would follow in the coming months

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