The government has closed the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund after a surge in demand exhausted the allocated budget. The £120m fund, available to householders in England and Wales, was set up to offer people money back for making energy efficiency improvements to their homes. It has now closed less than six weeks after it opened for applications.
Earlier this week ministers announced that they were lowering cashback levels available under the scheme due to its popularity. Around £43m of funding was allocated in the first six weeks and over £50m has been applied for. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said that 12,200 applications have been received and 7925 households have received vouchers under the scheme.
Last night DECC issued a statement to say that the fund was closed with immediate effect due to 'overwhelming popular demand.' The sudden closure follows a surge in applications over the last two days, meaning the allocated budget has been reached.
Energy minister Amber Rudd said: “We were always clear there was a budget which is why we encouraged people act quickly.”
Richard Twinn, policy and public affairs officer at the UK Green Building Council, said: “The sudden and immediate closure of this fund is another setback for the energy efficiency industry because companies have specifically geared up to market and deliver through this scheme.
“These constant changes are not helpful to industry,” explained Twinn. “We now need urgent clarity as to whether government will bring forward any more money to ensure continuity of Green Deal work.”
Closure of the scheme after just six weeks has led to a call for changes in the way energy efficiency improvements are funded. Twinn said that the scheme’s closure “demonstrate[s] that we need long-term drivers, not short term pots of cash to avoid this continual cycle of boom and bust.”
DECC has said it will monitor voucher redemption rates and will consider whether to launch a further offer, should funds become available.
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