Are you ready to make the most of the Green Deal?

From the Autumn of 2012, householders will be able to take part in ‘The Green Deal’ scheme.

This is a brand new Government backed way of financing some energy efficient home improvements which do not involve any upfront costs by the consumer and which allows them to pay back the funding via their energy bills. This means consumers can see ‘The Green Deal’ charge alongside the reductions in energy use which generate savings on their bill. The scheme is different to most finance schemes in that the liability stays with the property not the person, so if the consumer sells on or moves out and ceases to be the bill-payer at that property, the financial obligation moves to the next bill payer: and the charge is only paid whilst the benefits are enjoyed.

So how will it work?

The scheme is being financed by banks, and large retail organisations whose marketing power and expertise will give them access to millions of potential customers. Working with them will be accredited advisors to carry out surveys and recommendations; and accredited installers who will carry out the work.

Of course, some of these installers will already be your customers, but it is expected that there will be many new ones recruited. According to the government white paper (The Green Deal – A summary of the government’s proposals), they are predicting that there could be as many as 100,000 jobs supporting this initiative in the UK over the next 5 years.

So this does seem to be a tremendous opportunity and it would make sense to start work on your strategy now if you haven’t done so already. We were pretty surprised that a quick trawl round the major builders merchants and DIY outlets websites drew a blank on any reference to ‘The Green Deal’ especially given that this scheme is due to launch in 9 months.

So why not get ahead of the game and put your company at the top of the list…