Official launch of Greener Homes Strategy

John Denham secretary of state for communities and local government spoke to edie as he launched the Government's Greener Homes Strategy.


The minister was at Ecobuild today (March 2) to launch the scheme, which aims to help home owners green their houses.

The scheme, the minister hopes, will transform of how people use energy over the next decade – hopefully resulting in reduced bills and carbon emissions.

The scheme will give loans to home-owners to pay for green improvements, with repayments linked to reduced utility bills resulting from the works, and the chance to earn money by feeding excess energy back into the grid.

Mr Denham said the scheme paves the way for ‘pay as you save’ green finance to make energy efficiency pay from day one.

And, importantly he said the scheme links energy saving initiatives, such as solar panels, to encourage people not expecting to stay in a property long-term to sign up.

With around one quarter of Britain’s emissions coming from energy used in homes the strategy aims to cut these by 29% by 2020.

UK Green Building Council chief executive, Paul King, backed the announcement.

He said: “If we want to tackle climate change, save money and conserve energy then we need to find a way of financing the refurbishment of millions of homes.

“I’m delighted government has adopted a key UK Green Building Council demand, this is a bold and welcome move.

“The biggest barrier to low carbon refurbishment – the upfront cost – is set to fall.”

Luke Walsh

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