The new incentives added to the Green Deal now offer up to £7600 cash back to offset the cost of developments to households in England and Wales making energy saving improvements.

The changes made to the Green Deal were first announced in May and have since seen 1,736 new applications for the fund after it was launched in June. The scheme is open to homeowners for one year and up to £50m is available to customers at the current rate.

Domestic energy customers will receive up to £6000 for installing wall insulation and £1000 for installing two measures from an approved list, which includes double glazing, floor insulation and replacement doors. They will also receive a £100 refund for their Green Deal Assessment and up to £500 if they take out energy efficiency improvements on a property purchased 12 months prior to application.

The level of uptake has breathed new life into the ailing Green Deal, which came under criticism after seeing just 33 new plans signed in February.

The increased level of interest is also a relief for Government, which had seen 163,000 people take the Green Deal Assessment in February but only 1,754 plans were actually in progress at the end of the month. A mere 883 projects had been completed – a fraction of the 10,000 the Government expected by the end of 2013.

With this surge in uptake, Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Davey praised the new GDHIF incentives. He said: “We’ve changed the Green Deal to make it simpler and faster for people to make their homes more energy efficient. I want as many people as possible to benefit from this unmissable offer. It won’t be around forever, so sign up now and get your home ready for the winter.”

The Green Deal also saw increased assessments in May and a new publicity campaign, ‘Unmissable’, to promote the offer of £7600. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Greg Barker said of the latest statistics: “It’s great that May was such a successful month for the Green Deal, with 23,811 assessments carried out – the second highest rate ever. And it’s even more encouraging that 76% of people who’ve had a Green Deal Assessment are taking action.”

Matt Field

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