This is getting embarrassing now isn’t it?

The latest Green Deal news to surface is the announcement that since the scheme went live in October 2012, a grand total of just 5 households have turned up on the Government’s register for Green Deal work! If there was an award for the most messy and chaotic launch of a UK scheme, surely this must be competing for the winner’s slot!

So far, the Telegraph reports that 600 builders and 40 other large organizations have signed up to be Green Deal installers. They give no indication on the number of double glazing installers, but from what I see on the social media sites, there isn’t that many. From memory, I remember seeing an article that said it would require around 10,000 companies to become installers and providers if this thing was to work. So I think it’s fairly safe to say that the home improvements industry has decided what it think of this, judging by the very low numbers at the moment.

But this is what I don’t understand; despite the abysmal take-up from UK consumers, there are still loads of companies trying to persuade us as window installers to become registered Green Deal installers (for a fee of course).  What reason is there now, with news like this getting around, for any window installer to think it’s worth their time, effort and cash to become a Green Deal installer? There isn’t. Many ministers in Government are saying that this Green Deal will be a slow burner and that it might take a bit of time to get going. But since November 2012, there has just been five Green Deal jobs ready to give loans to. That’s not a slow burner, it’s not even giving puffs of smoke!

The slow burner point is invalid in another way. While it may take quite a while for people to engage with the idea of taking out more debt to pay for home improvements, household fuel bills are rising faster than any other cost at the moment. People really don’t have time to go through a lengthy process to see if they might get a few extra grand to put towards new windows. People are trying to clear personal debt, not add more on.

A recent report from USwitch has revealed that less than a fifth of people they surveyed have heard of the Green Deal. Less than one in five. That is appalling. Now if you were to take away from that figure the number of people who weren’t in favour of such a scheme, I think we would be down to single digit percentages.

The Government is about to spend £3m on a UK-wide advertising push, to educate people about the scheme. But with various industries ditching it altogether, it’s too little too late. Time to scrap it and work on something more productive.