Green PM climbs down on home insulation targets

The only way for anyone to control their energy costs is to improve the insulation of their homes.

I was talking to a friend who is a high powered consultant in the area last night when the news was on. He said "the only long term way to control energy costs for poorer people is to improve the insulation of their homes."

In an interview on R4 at lunchtime, a government spokesman pointed out that although the new green tax system will mean that fewer houses of those on small incomes will be insulates, especially if they need wall insulation other than cavity insulation, there was still the Green Deal that people could use.

Well, well, well, reduce the free insulation and push the Green Deal. Coincidence?

Oh they are at it again. Now they have rolled over and showed their tummies to the energy companies and let them off the hook of giving discounts to poor families (these will be funded by general taxation and further cutting back on tax avoidance and for how long George...) and delaying the insulation of homes that desperately need it...
The are changing the definition of fuel poverty, which will inevitably have a knock on effect to those entitled to help
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25180992

Do you fall into the current definition of fuel poverty - do you spend more than 10% of your income on fuel?

Well in some cases it may not be a bad deal... maybe for Landlords who don't want to take out another type of loan for instance and can make improvements to their property without having to pay anything themselves?
Or people who have paid off their mortgages and don't want to borrow money in any other way?
Yes absolutely flicketyb i remember DH , who was deeply embroiled in the whole fiasco (one of those whose advice was ignored) outlining the scheme in the car one day and saying "But it will cost a fortune to run it!" )

Here is the latest. What is the world coming to when PM and Deputy PM announce their plans in the Sun on Sunday and not the house of commons.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25170774

And the problems with the Green Deal were blindingly obvious from the start. I can remember a discussion to that affect on Gransnet when the scheme was announced.

This is what drives me to drink with so many government initiatives (this government and previous ones). They announce a scheme. There is a chorus of those who understand the industry/problem concerned pointing out the problems. The government push it through regardless, and a year later when the chorus of disapproval has been proved right, the government denies that there are any problems, there is just slow take up, and a year after that the scheme is quietly dropped.

If, of course, they have a successful programme, they worry about the cost and promptly reduce the benefits or limit the funding (consider the feed-in tariffs for those who installed solar electricity panels on their roofs, when more people installed them than expected the government promptly reduced the price per unit for those feeding electricity into the grid.)

JessM The Green Deal seems like a bad deal all round then - no wonder there haven't been many takers.

I think it is a slow down rather than a cancellation scenario. But jobs will be lost in the insulation industry I would imagine.

Oh goodness - Green Deal - a property owner takes out a loan to improve the energy efficiency of the property. The measures have to be assessed as effective (approved software is used by a licenced person - a Green Deal Assessor). The cost of the loan is paid back by the electricity company deducting a small amount from the bills over 20 (I think) years and passing it on to the body that made the original loan. There is a "golden rule" that your energy bills (gas plus electric) will be no higher than they were before.
However the bills may not be any lower in the short term. But if energy prices rise, the savings will become significant.
If you sell the house the green deal charge passes to the new owner.
The problem is that (without me being super tedious listing all the ins and outs, which are considerable) the cost of managing all this, and hence the cost of the loans, is going to be about 7% pa.
So many householders would be better off, if they need a new boiler for instance, in adding the cost of this to their mortgage.
That is as simple as I can make it.
If anyone needs insulation or a new boiler the best thing is to first check out with their energy company (and other energy companies) whether they are entitled to anything free, or subsidised, under the many current ECO schemes. (see the links on the energy saving tips thread)

I don't really understand how the Green Deal operates. If it is massively bureaucratic and complicated then it does seem ill-conceived.

However, in my view, it's essential that houses that are badly insulated or have inefficient heating systems should be brought up to standard, not only for the benefit of the householders but also to use energy more efficiently. I can't imagine how disappointing (and worrying) it will be for some people to learn that improvements that were due to be done are not now going to take place, particularly as energy prices are so high. In other countries great efforts have been made to ensure that houses conserve as much warmth as possible and, if in the UK the Green Deal isn't fit for purpose then some other arrangement should be made.

Never was there an ill-conceived brat of an idea as Green Deal that has used up so many thousands of hours of civil servant labour and that of others . Even me for a few weeks. To so little avail. Obvious (to me at least) from the beginning that it was just too bloody complicated once you started thinking how it might work...
Great pity Osborne not supporting housing association shared ownership schemes as a much better way of getting people on the property ladder. Sigh.

Also the Prime Minister who announced the Green Deal with great pzazz a year ago and now has to admit that only 219 people have signed up for it in the first year

The scheme to help first time buyers get on the housing ladder had 2,000 takers in the first three months.