£100m more for Green Deal Home Improvement Fund

Ed Davey has announced there will be a second phase of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) totalling £100m.

Applications for the new phase of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, designed to help people make energy saving improvements to their home, will open to applications before the end of November. The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) are looking to improve the initiative in light of issues arising from phase 1.

Further details including terms and conditions, rates and all measures to be covered will also be announced in November. DECC are currently consulting on ways to improve the GDHIF and suggestions can be emailed directly to them or do feel free to pass on comments to us and we will pass them on.  DECC may also be running consultation events and Ready for Retrofit will be working to deliver a south west session should they occur.

Industry has been frustrated by the GDHIF’s first phase and we hope comments will be listened to and improvements are made, particularly to ensure a robust application process is set in place.  Many believe GDHIF vouchers were logged by sales companies and not homeowners and so far 1,000 of the 21,000 vouchers issued have been cancelled due to irregularities.

Homeowners and installers have also seen payment terms extended; with the initial 10 days being dropped and increased to 30 days.  Ready for Retrofit’s recent survey of installers found it can be up to 60 days if not longer, with installers waiting for payments ranging between £10,000 - £75,000. One installer stated ‘we receive queries daily [from customers] asking when they will receive their money but we are in a very difficult position as the administrator won’t answer any questions.’

DECC have said they are looking to reduce payment periods and hopefully allocate more staff to the GDHIF team to ensure smoother running of this second phase.  DECC are also claiming a number of applications have been incorrectly completed and urge installers to ensure homeowners fully understand the correct procedure before applying.

Regen SW urge companies to send suggestions on how the scheme could be improved to DECC and also complete our survey.  The more evidence we have of the impact of phase 1 the better chance improvements can be made for the future.