The government has announced the first 24 councils to receive funding under the £88m Green Deal Communities scheme. The funding is expected to benefit around 32,000 properties as local authorities roll out energy efficiency improvements to households on a street-by-street basis, potentially providing a much-needed shot in the arm for the beleaguered Green Deal.
The news came as more than 30 organisations issued a joint statement urging the government to set minimum energy efficiency standard for private rented homes.
The Green Deal Communities programme was set up to boost take up of the Green Deal by asking local authorities to propose street or area-based proposals to deliver Green Deal plans to as many households as possible. The idea is that councils should know their areas and which streets and properties could benefit most from an upgrade to energy efficiency.
The councils to receive a share of the Green Deal Communities scheme funding are: East Hampshire District Council, Dartford Borough Council, Leeds City Council, Bristol City Council, Nottingham City Council, Broadland District Council (S Norfolk & Norwich City Council), London Borough of Hillingdon, Telford & Wrekin Council, Worcestershire County Council, London Borough of Lewisham, Surrey Coalition, Plymouth City Council, South Buckinghamshire District Council, Manchester (Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council), Ashfield District Council, Suffolk County Council, Cambridge City Council, Peterborough, London Borough of Haringey, Bracknell Forest, Eastleigh Borough Council, Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, London Borough of Harrow, and Bath & North East Somerset Council.
Minister for energy Greg Barker said: “Properties across the country are leaking hundreds of pounds every year through faulty boilers, draughty windows and insufficient insulation. By installing energy saving improvements we can help thousands of hard-pressed consumers save energy and lower their bills. This is why we’ve quadrupled the Green Deal Communities funding, so that local authorities can help many more people benefit from these improvements.”
"This new support for the Green Deal couldn’t come at a more critical time, following last month’s disappointing statistics on uptake, and will undoubtedly help area-based delivery of the scheme. Local authorities are a trusted voice and crucial to getting the message out about energy efficiency."
John Alker, UK-GBC
John Alker, director of policy and communications at the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), said: “This new support for the Green Deal couldn’t come at a more critical time, following last month’s disappointing statistics on uptake, and will undoubtedly help area-based delivery of the scheme. Local authorities are a trusted voice and crucial to getting the message out about energy efficiency.”
He added: “However, government could go further by stepping in to lower interest rates – helping local authorities to make the Green Deal a more attractive proposition for the consumer – or by introducing long-term structural incentives, such as variable rates of Stamp Duty.”
Meanwhile, the joint statement issued to the government was supported by 30 organisations, including the UK-GBC, ACE, Energy Saving Trust, Friends of the Earth and WWF. It says that regulations must be introduced without delay to allow landlords as much time as possible to improve the energy efficiency of their properties ahead of the minimum energy efficiency standard for private rented homes coming into force.
The regulations were expected to be laid in Parliament in late 2013 or early 2014, but a public consultation is still yet to be published. The statement also says that the minimum standard must be clearly specified as being EPC Band E and exemptions to the regulations (such as listed buildings) must be kept to an absolute minimum.
Of the 22.8m households in England in 2011, 4 million were privately rented, an increase of 1.6 million in only six years and the highest level since the early 1990s. The private rented sector has the highest proportion (11 per cent) of England’s most energy inefficient homes, which covers EPC Bands F and G.
Alker said: “A minimum energy efficiency standard is not only crucial for upgrading the UK’s poorly performing privately rented homes, but would also give a much-needed boost to the flagging Green Deal. Government is long overdue in setting out this standard, creating uncertainty for both landlords and tenants.”
