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Green Deal and ECO-funding

4/15/2013

6 Comments

 
Today I received this comment from Katherine. I have posted it in its entirety. This is indeed worrying. 

"Hi Sofie,
I work for an installer - and I just thought to add a little from our side of things may be informative (though not actually helpful!). We have houses ready for funding, but no providers want to give full funding. We specifically targeted areas that were ECO eligible - you can look up the eligible areas, then search your postcode to see if it is in a "vulnerable" area. This should achieve 100% funding for Solid Wall Insulation - as it is by definition a "hard to treat" measure. However, when it comes down to the nitty gritty, the providers are constantly changing the goal posts. We are now told a property needs to be solid fuel AND solid wall - and even then may not achieve full funding. Personally, I can not see the point of ECO if they are not intending to use it for its purposes - to help the vulnerable insulate their homes. They are trying to "force" people into having Green Deal finance to top up the ECO grants. There is no mention of fuel types determining the eligibility for ECO, it just ticks more boxes and gives a bigger saving than a house on mains gas - but this is not why ECO was set up. Sorry, now I'm just rambling. Back to my point, even now, the providers are reluctant to give us even an idea of funding - so we are left not really knowing what to tell people, other than be patient, we are trying to get them the best deal we can. But I think you may have more luck with a smaller, local installer that has access to funding via providers. Though as you say, there is no easy way to find these. Very best of luck to you though."


Added 4pm 15/04: 

It appears that providers are trying to look for the 'lowest hanging ECO fruits', i.e. the interventions giving the greatest carbon reductions for least amount of effort/money, which is indeed the Solid Walled (SW) and solid fuelled dwellings (and where many properties in one go can be treated). However, it is problematic if this is at the expense of ECO-funding properties that are SW and in vulnerable areas, simply because they are not solid fuelled. This will presumably cut out much or all of greater London properties, despite 30% being classified as SW properties, due to the smoke control zone and lack of solid fuelled properties,...Equally individual dwellings may not be able to access ECO-funding for several months or years until the low-hanging fruits are harvested first. 

It seems that individual householders may find it difficult - or impossible to access ECO funding, despite 'in theory' their properties qualifying. Unable to get access to the top-up funding required to undertake solid wall insulation to meet the Green Deal's Golden Rule, presumably means that they cannot undertake this Green Deal measure unless they are able to afford the difference. If this is the way things are going; ECO-funding might have been mis-advertised and householders might have been deceived.
6 Comments
Rory Bergin link
4/15/2013 01:16:39 am

Sophie, this is exactly the kind of behaviour I expect from ECO, as the energy companies will look for the cheapest way of delivering their obligations to save CO2. Anything else would be surprising. But isn't this why there is an ECO brokerage?

Reply
Linda Toledo
4/28/2013 07:02:20 pm

Very interesting!
It looks like the green deal system is (expectedly) bringing the responsibility to assessors, to suppliers etc. instead of giving it directly to householders.
In my Belgian period I could appreciate the the government implements governmental institutions (such as Ecohuis) providing advise to (directly) home-owners. These, have the responsibility of getting different quotes and the governmental office will discuss with home-owners about financial and technical matters.
When it comes to energy efficiency updates I wonder, should all be assessed before when assessment method have such limits?

Reply
Matthew James link
9/18/2013 01:56:30 am

What a load of rubbish the whole scheme is. We are a Greendeal accredited company, we have also invested a lot of money. The whole scheme is a con. Do not get involved in this unless you want to lose a lot of money. Eco not even covering the cost of all the major measures. I wished I had never got involved in Eco or Greendeal.

Reply
Owen O'Neill
11/26/2013 09:27:08 pm


I too am struggling to get funding for SWI. As an example I've had a quote for £19k to insulate one property - max GD loan is £2k based on the energy savings - ECO funding £5k, asking me to fund a further £12k.

Someone explain to me how that doesn't break the golden rule if I'm having to put in a total of £14k only £2k of which will come back in energy savings !!!! The whole point of ECO was to top up funding of specific higher cost measures to make them eligible for GD..... and this property is in a CSCO area too !

Reply
Sofie Pelsmakers
11/26/2013 09:37:30 pm

Hi Owen can you email me directly via contact and links and I ca send you a private response. We did get ECO - but would be good to know which area of the country; which installer/insulation system and what kind of house. 19K sounds incredulous. Sofie

Reply
Biff Barlow
12/3/2013 06:16:49 pm

I work on the ground trying to delivery ECO measures, and this weekend the government, solely for political reasons, has made the delivery options even more difficult.
I work with groups of ECO Providers and they just can't make headway because its the energy companies who call the shots, hold back the funding, restrict the measures, and keep reducing the carbon tonnage rates!
The biggest failure to date is the HHCRo, which should have offered a whole house approach to taking households out of fuel poverty, but instead has become a boiler replacement scheme, how sad, what an opportunity missed.
Still the numbers of boilers installed is impressive, as is the fact they will be burning fossil fuels for the next 20 years or more.
Never fear though "Shale Gas to the Rescue" how much of that subsidy could be put to good use delivering measures into vulnerable households?
The Energy Policy is just a complete mess!

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