Tuesday 25 June 2013

Davey: Green Deal inspiring energy saving home improvements

Nearly half of UK households (47%) who received a Green Deal advice report following an assessment said they either had or were installing energy saving measures.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) claims the flagship scheme is “inspiring people across the UK” to install energy saving homes improvements, with 31% of householders saying they would “definitely or probably” install at least one measure.

The news follows speculation that the uptake has been slow, with only a few homes thought to have signed up to the energy efficiency scheme.

DECC's research, however, claims the assessment experience was positive for the majority of households, with 75% rating their usefulness as high and 77% having confidence in the assessors' recommendations. 68% said the reason for having an assessment was to save money whilst 38% said they wanted to cut their energy usage for environmental reasons.

Last week the Government also suggested installing energy efficiency measures could boost a property's value by £16,000.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: “All the signs are that British householders are motivated by energy efficiency. In an era of rising energy prices, the benefits are obvious.

“The Green Deal has only just got underway but it’s already inspiring consumers to take action to keep their homes warm and bills down. This is great news for the energy efficiency industry as well because this shows a genuine appetite among householders for more energy efficient homes.”

The research also claims Green Deal awareness has doubled over the early months of the scheme, increasing from 10% of households being aware in November 2012 during the pre-launch to 22% last month.

The Energy and Climate Change Committee said UK Ministers couldn't provide an answer when asked about the expected outcomes of the Green Deal scheme last month.