It’s been quite a while since I have been able to say anything positive about the Green Deal, however, the latest figures released by the DECC seem to suggest that the pace of Assessments being carried out is picking up a little.
Since it’s launch, there have been a total of 18,816 Green Deal Assessments carried out up to the end of April, with 9522 carried out just in April alone. This marks a significant increase in the interest in the Green Deal. Which of course is very welcome news. However, these are just assessments and not physical work.
There is still very little sign that a decent number of these assessments are turning out into actual physical work. The reasons for this are unclear. Properties could be unsuitable, people could be put off by the repayments, the ‘Golden Rule’ might not be working. It could be anything. But what is key is if the Green Deal is to work, then a significant number of these assessments being carried out have to turn into work. There are plenty of people coming on board as assessors, but I think this is because there was an expectancy of a lot of these assessments turning into Green Deal plans. Up to press, this has not materialised.
Hopefully over the coming few months, we’ll start to see a lot of these plans come to fruition. If not, the Government needs to step up it’s game and start trying to generate some interest in the retro-fit market to compliment the Green Deal and show off the advantages. Personally, there will always be too many reasons not to go with Green Deal work, and I know our industry has been skeptical about it from day one.
All that being said, if a by-product of the scheme is that there is raised interest in the general fenestration sector, then this can only be a good thing. The Green Deal might not work conventionally, but it might stir a few to go down the traditional routes to buying new windows and doors.
Time will only tell with something like this.
