MSE News: Green Deal fund to reopen with an extra £100m

Former_MSE_Helen

An extra £100m will be added to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund the Government has announced today

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Green Deal fund to reopen with an extra £100m




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Alias_Omega

Whoooooooo!

savemoney

I got my fingers burnt last time and out of pocket for £150 survey. Suddenly went quite when Davey on radio was challenge by Martin about people loosing out, no sign of any compensation for any losses

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2014/08/moneysavingexpert-maintains-pressure-on-the-government-to-refund-those-hit-by-green-deal-cashback-closure

"In an interview on Radio 5 today, which followed MoneySavingExpert.com creator Martin Lewis's calls on the station yesterday, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey suggested the Government has not completely ruled out refunding homeowners."

Alias_Omega

How were your fingers burnt?

Richie-from-the-Boro

Yes £60 mi££ion worth of vouchers were issued in the two days after SWI was slashed from £6k v to £4k per household and the fund was miraculously emptied of the £120 mi££ion. Someone might want to tell me who apart from installers [who may want to ‘sell’ them on to householders in their own time] can speculatively get their hands on £60 mi££ion of vouchers in 24 hours.

Does anyone have an explanation ?

'Vouchers went like hot cakes'

savemoney

I applied fairly early on when it went up from 4k to 6k. I then had problems finding a suitable company to do a survey because few are willing to come to my town.

Once I paid I had same issue no one wants to come to my town as they prefer someone closer ie living in large towns or cities apparently Scarborough with population over 50k and a dead end on coast is regarded for many as too far. By time I found someone who still hadn't come the offer had been closed.

Nearest companies are residing In Middlesborough, Leeds and York all over 40 miles away

I am not alone on this I have heard countless others with same problem companies cherry pick, I know you cant blame them but it leaves others me taking extra time to find someone.

So I am now out of pocket of £150 for a useless piece of paper in my eyes.

Alias_Omega wrote: »

How were your fingers burnt?

pathsofdarkness

I was luckily able to apply for the voucher 30 minutes before the GDHIF scheme closed.

We had 121 m2 of external solid wall insulation on our semi installed for £11.5k (£6k paid for by the voucher and the remaining £5.5k paid for by me). That includes VAT @ 5%.

One of the problems I had when getting quotes was how to compare the different quotes as each installer used different systems and there wasn't any guidance as to which was best.

Ended up using 90mm of expanded polystyrene (EPS) via the Weatherby system. Other systems were Webbers, Kreisel and Knauf but I had no idea how to compare properly. Some independent guidance from the Green Deal people would have been useful.

House is a lot cooler during the hot weather and retains the heat a lot longer during the recent cold nights when we turn the heating on, so all in all I think it was worth doing it.

I do wonder if I'll still be able to get some other GDHIF measures such as radiator valves once the scheme reopens again since I've already used the scheme for insulation already.

Alias_Omega

We need a Combi boiler, Double radiators, TRV's, Room thermostat..


£1650 for boiler installation, then 9 Radiators, TRV's, Room Stat.. so about £2500...with a local plumber

Richie-from-the-Boro

The new money as I understand it is £120 mi££ion [£50 mi££ion now the rest later] not £100 mi££ion. In England & Wales these rates should guarantee householders, landlords & tenants eligibility for a claim of up to £6k for SWI and up to £1k for any two out of the 12 other eligible improvements at their property. They could also claim up to an extra £500 if they have purchased the relevant property in the 12 months before making an application and up to an extra £100 towards the cost of a Green Deal Assessment. Households landlords & tenants receiving ECO funding will not be eligible for GDHIF funding on the same measures.

captainhindsight_2

At the moment we do not know what measures will qualify and how much. But rumours are 4k for SWI then 1k for 2 of twelve probably a similar list to last time but with out flue gas heat recovery. Hopefully something for off grid boilers, also I think it will include upgrading old double glazing instead of just single glazing maybe include loft insulation but I doubt it. Then the same 500 if work is done within 12 months and 100 back for the gdar.

RdSAP 9.2 is released early November, so I am guessing although GDARs do last for 2 years, some of the recommendations required for this new Cashback scheme will only be able to be recommended by a new GDAR such as upgrading old double glazing which will annoy a lot of people if it is the case.

The new recommendations with the new assessments are party walls, windows and lighting so maybe these will be included. But we won't know until November any way.

I would be cautious about rushing out now to get a gdar, I would recommend waiting until after 2nd November so you will get a new style Epc and oa.

Richie-from-the-Boro

My understanding is no legislated changes are going to be made to GDAR and GDIP's so as to make them the default roadmap for recommending ECO [carbon savings scheme elements]. So while their use will continue to offer tailor made advice specific to the household as it helps to develop a a market for efficiency measures householders are able to pay for. The use of GDAR recommended affordable warmth measures would only add significant time & cost to the process with no gain for the customer and as such would reduce affordable warmth activity in the market, particularly with the low income & vulnerable households.