Green Deal MSE Guide Discussion

captainhindsight_2

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Buying a house, the boiler is 25+ years old. Old immersion heater type etc. Its not a back boiler, instead its floor mounted in the dining room, it makes a nice corner unit. The cost to replace to a Combi is probably somewhat £1800 ishy. If the energy savings are £50 a year, it will take me 36 years to break even, and by then I need another new boiler.

Home Improvement Fund...really hard to understand...

Home improvement is pretty simple just get 1000 Cashback for installing 2 from a list of 12 measures + 500 if you do the work with 12 months of buying, 100 back for the assessment 4000 back for solid wall insulation.

In you canes guessing you would just want boiler and flue gas heat recovery and get 1500 Cashback.

Alias_Omega

By the time we complete, and are ready to go its going to be September for the assessment, and by then the rules would have changed.

Unsure on the cavity insulation, however I am sure they can fit some more in. The house has 2 flat roofs, one roof might be coming off, so I guess that could be 50% fulfilled with that...

Smiley_Dan

captainhindsight wrote: »

Home improvement is pretty simple just get 1000 Cashback for installing 2 from a list of 12 measures + 500 if you do the work with 12 months of buying, 100 back for the assessment 4000 back for solid wall insulation.

While I applaud your continued informative posts on this forum the GDHIF cannot be described as 'simple'. Check out the Ts&Cs for the needless limitations and intricacies which means you have to be a special case to get your measures seen to.

John_Pierpoint

Sh*t hit the fan today.- a rerun of the great 2011 cancellation of the FiT rates for PV panels on your roof..


http://www.which.co.uk/news/2014/07/state-of-dismay-as-green-deal-cash-incentive-closes-375140/

Smiley_Dan

Not sure I understand the FiT comparison - they are still going (at a reduced rate).

annei_2

Hi all, I've read the guide a few days ago and have been mulling it over since. Apologies if this has already been answered elsewhere but can anyone tell me if my thinking is correct? Now that the green deal cashback is no longer available, is there a reason anyone with a reasonably good credit score would go for green deal finance in favour of doing a 0% spending credit card and balance transferring to other 0% deals until the debt is paid off? I understand that there are disadvantages with the credit card route - what if my circumstances change and (for instance) I lose my job - I may not find it easy to get a 0% balance transfer. I can borrow over a much longer term with GD finance but at about 7% it seems that I'll be paying interest for the longer term too. I also see that if I move house, having financed through GD I'll walk away from the debt which obviously is not the case if I finance through 0% cc - notwithstanding all this I just can't see that GD finance cuts the mustard over and above 0% CCs. Grateful for any thoughts on this.

captainhindsight_2

annei wrote: »

Hi all, I've read the guide a few days ago and have been mulling it over since. Apologies if this has already been answered elsewhere but can anyone tell me if my thinking is correct? Now that the green deal cashback is no longer available, is there a reason anyone with a reasonably good credit score would go for green deal finance in favour of doing a 0% spending credit card and balance transferring to other 0% deals until the debt is paid off? I understand that there are disadvantages with the credit card route - what if my circumstances change and (for instance) I lose my job - I may not find it easy to get a 0% balance transfer. I can borrow over a much longer term with GD finance but at about 7% it seems that I'll be paying interest for the longer term too. I also see that if I move house, having financed through GD I'll walk away from the debt which obviously is not the case if I finance through 0% cc - notwithstanding all this I just can't see that GD finance cuts the mustard over and above 0% CCs. Grateful for any thoughts on this.

The cashback has no real effect on how to fund any remaining balance. You can get GD cashback without getting a green deal loan you just have to use a green deal company to install the work.

Also cashback will come back, so you may as well wait unless it urgent work that needs to be done.

Yes there is better/cheaper credit available on the market than GD finance.

GD finance has its pros and cons, some of these can be seen as both depending how you are looking at it.

The main difference with GD finance from any other type of finance is that the loan stays with the house and is paid of by the bill payer, this can be beneficial to landlords (tenants paying for the work) or people looking to make improvements but not stay there for a long period of time because as soon as they leave the new occupiers are paying the loan off.

This may have an effect on finding new occupiers/buyers but there is no real data available yet showing either way.

My advice would be to wait if you can, for announcements to be made from DECC about when they are opening up applications for the GDHIF again (this is happening, as soon as they have dealt with the back log of applications), and then make a judgement of whether you are going to be in receipt of the benefits of the work. So if you have no plans to move, finance it the cheapest way possible. But if you are thinking of moving, GDfinance could be a good option depending on your opinion of whether or not it will affect you finding an new occupier/buyer.

annei_2

Thanks Capt H, I had heard that GDHIF would be back at some point but not likely before next March. I'm not in any hurry to get the work done, although I have had three quotes for the PV panel installation so may well wait and see what happens with GDHIF. Re the benefit of leaving the loan with the house (we're not planning to move right away but will prob do so in about 5 years), I think that any buyer with any sense will just seek to negotiate the price down to reflect the outstanding loan so I think the advantage of leaving the GD loan with the house is not the advantage it might first appear to be.

Smiley_Dan

Rumours of a comeback for the GDHIF... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11145427/Green-Deal-7000-home-improvement-scheme-could-make-a-comeback.html

When will the third Green Deal launch?
The Department for Energy and Climate Change said details will be published in late November on when households can apply and the benefits that will be offered.

Note that it's not clear what form this will be in as yet... it may not be the GDHIF as we know it. Personally, I hope not, because too many people were excluded.

Gee33

I had a Green Deal Assessment done this year after I read a case study on the DEC website about a single mother who had her DOUBLE GLAZING replaced with DOUBLE GLAZING. So after paying £150 for my assessment I was told that I was not able to have my windows done because they were already double glazed!!! The fact that they had rotting wooden frames, in a poor state, let in drafts and experienced condensation was of no concern to the assessor who used a standard system to input his results. What a waste of £150!!! The deal needs to be re-named "the complex, interchangable rules and make it up as you go along deal"!!!