It has recently been announced on the BBC website that the number of people taking up the ‘Green Deal’ has passed the 1000 barrier. See the BBC website article here.
The Green Deal was created by the government to reduce household and business carbon emissions and to save energy. Through the Green Deal, the government are providing loans to subsidise the cost for energy-saving measures, such as insulation and new, more efficient boilers with no up-front payment. The savings made from having the energy-saving measures would then be used to pay back the loan.
Interestingly, the loan is attached to the property and not the home owners, so it is passed on to the next owners when a property is sold. This allows people who are unable to get a mortgage or long term loans to still acquire the Green Deal. A good example of this is for elderly people.
With an interest rate of 7-8%, the Green Deal is almost double the best existing 10 year fixed-rate mortgages, but as these loans can last up to 25 years and the government claims that the interest is reasonable, this rate may compare well with the cost of taking out a personal loan, which could be of benefit to some people or businesses!
The Green Deal has had its share of teething problems, such as software glitches, but it is striving to protect the environment and help ordinary home owners to upgrade their homes and businesses easily. Could the Green Deal help you?
For further information, click here to visit the Gov.uk website.
For more information on the Green Deal for a residential property, contact a member of our Residential Conveyancing team on 0161 475 7684.
