The Government has announced today that it will provide no further funding to the Green Deal Finance Company.
The Government will also stop any future funding releases of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund. Although existing Green Deal finance plans will be protected, the Government is in effect scrapping the Green Deal.
The Government confirmed however that the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme will continue to provide energy efficiency support to households this year. They have also announced that they will work with the building industry and consumer groups to review household energy efficiency schemes and develop new policies that are more effective.
Ed Matthew of the Energy Bill Revolution said:
“Few will shed a tear for the Green Deal in its current form. It has clearly failed. But the answer is not to scrap it but reform it. The UK has among the worst insulated homes in western Europe and as a result we waste huge amounts of energy. Zero interest loans to make homes energy efficient would be far more popular and could generate more tax revenue for the Treasury than it costs to subsidise. This has worked in Germany.
The Government needs to make home energy efficiency an infrastructure priority. The Treasury plans to invest £100 billion in infrastructure over the next five years. Just a tiny proportion of this investment could help insulate millions of UK homes and drive down energy bills in the most cost effective way. No other infrastructure investment could achieve so much.”