The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has introduced consultation on a scheme to offer existing homeowners low interest loans and ‘green makeovers’ to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The consultation discusses plans for a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, designed to encourage homeowners to install renewable technologies.
Energy and Climate Change secretary Ed Miliband said: “We need to move from incremental steps forward on household energy efficiency to a comprehensive national plan - the Great British refurb. We know the scale of the challenge: wasted energy is costing families on average £300 a year, and more than a quarter of all our CO2 emissions are from our homes.”
Ministers expect 400,000 homes a year will benefit. Under the RHI scheme, those who switched to renewable heating technologies such as air and ground source heat pumps, solar thermal and biomass boilers would receive a finance package to cover installation costs, with repayment from energy bill savings linked to the property rather than residents.
In the USA, as part of President Obama’s economic stimulus package, the Government has expanded tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements. A tax credit rate of 30 per cent of the purchase cost of renewable technologies, subject to a $1,500 lifetime cap, has been introduced. Congressional estimates indicate that the tax incentive will increase aggregate remodelling activity by more than $6 billion.
Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said: “Speaking at the DECC launch Margaret Beckett MP, Minister for Housing, talked about a ‘quiet revolution’ in our homes to reduce their carbon emissions. But we need a big bang not a quiet revolution if we are to have a realistic chance of transforming our housing stock to make it greener and energy efficient.”
We at whatgreenhome.com say that the DECC’s Great British refurb plan for existing homes is a positive step, but rebates via energy bills is not the way forward. The process is simply not transparent enough to be adopted by homeowners. Instead, we argue that Council Tax rebates for energy efficient homes would be the best mechanism to reward those endeavouring to reduce their home’s carbon footprint.
We further support the campaign coordinated by the FMB that calls for a cut in the VAT rate on ‘green’ home improvements to 5%. A further positive move would be the speedy set up of a programme to implement feed-in tariffs (enshrined in the Energy Act passed in November 2008) to encourage homeowners to generate electricity from renewables and to sell the surplus to the national grid.
