Partner Article

You could improve your home with ECO funding?

Over £1bn has been put aside to help people in the UK make their homes more energy efficient, and industry expert Dean Murray is urging home owners to act now.

Dean is the managing director of Green Deal Solutions, who are installers of a wide range of energy efficiency home improvements.

“People need to take action to benefit from this funding, but I think there are a great many who still don’t fully understand what’s on offer, and it’s up to those of us working in the industry to make it clear.

“As well as the recently-launched Green Deal, there are a number of other funding sources available to home owners and landlords, and the bottom line is that they are all designed to help people in this country stay warm and save money.”

The Green Deal encourages the uptake of energy efficiency measures by allowing people to install measures at little or no upfront cost. Payment for the improvements is made over time through the savings made on energy bills, with rules in place to ensure that the savings made are always more than the payments required.

As part of the Green Deal, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) requires the six biggest energy companies in the UK to provide around £1.3billion a year to improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock, and it’s broken down into three areas.

The Carbon Saving Obligation means that £760million a year will be used for the hardest to treat properties, which are those where the repayment cost of installing energy efficiency measures exceeds the current monthly bills.

The Affordable Warmth Obligation allocates £350million of ECO funding that is specifically intended to help get people out of fuel poverty, and support the most fuel poor. Grants that are given as part of this part of the obligation are based on people’s financial circumstances.

The Carbon Saving Community Obligation is also designed to help the most fuel poor households, but grants are given based on location, and can be given to any property in the most deprived areas of the UK (as defined by the index of multiple deprivation).

Dean explained, “Green Deal assessors like us will automatically check if you or your property are eligible for one of these grants, and can advise on what funding might be available to you.

Getting an initial assessment means you have all the information you need about your house, and can talk through the details with an expert before you commit to any work being carried out.“

Green Deal Solutions are one of the leading providers of energy efficiency technologies and advice in the north west of England, and are PAS 2030 certified. They work in partnership with property developers, social housing providers, local authorities and energy suppliers and third party services with accredited partners to ensure a complete service for all clients.

For more information visit www.greendealsolutions.net or call 0800 488 0112.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Leah .