Energy
Green deal is financially ‘unattractive and uncompetitive’, say MPs
A cross-party group of MPs has warned that the government’s flagship energy efficiency scheme, the green deal, might not be influential enough to meet the UK’s carbon reduction targets and has instead called for clearer energy policy.
In its new report, Re-energising the green agenda, the all party parliamentary group for excellence in the built environment criticised the green deal, after recent figures revealed only four out of 38,000 assessments ended up in energy efficiency installations.
The report says, “The green deal, the government’s flagship policy to drive home improvements, is a step in the right direction towards a national retrofit programme. However, as it is, we are concerned that the green deal may not be strong enough to be of significant influence in meeting the UK’s carbon emissions targets.
“Financially, the green deal is unattractive and uncompetitive, it is overly complicated and it doesn’t work for social housing organisations. We note the approach in Germany, where loans for energy efficiency work are as little at 1-2%, has resulted in significant carbon emission improvements to their existing housing stock.”
The committee said there is a “perceived disconnect between CO2 reduction ambitions and policy implementation, which also raises issues of fuel poverty”. It added that it is time for the government to review and simplify the green deal scheme, include social housing landlords and make retrofits more financial attractive.
John Alker, the UK Green Building Council’s director of policy and communications, said, “This report adds yet more weight to the calls for additional incentives to get green deal off the ground. With the housing market on the up, stamp duty is surely an obvious policy lever for government to pull.”
Further reading:
DECC confirms only 4 of 38,000 green deal assessments turned into installations
Britons know how to be green, but many can’t afford it
Council tax incentives could be key to green deal success
Green deal causes 97% drop in cavity wall insulation numbers