The Green Deal is a flagship policy of the new Government and is scheduled for potential introduction in 2012. The idea behind the policy is to allow businesses, landlords and home owners access to energy efficiency improvement measures where they might previously have been unable to afford the measure or could not obtain a suitable grant.

The Green Deal Finance will allow the cost of the improvement measure to be spread as repayments are collected from the property utility bills until such a time that the debt is repaid. These repayments will be taken by the Utility Provider and will be covered under the Consumer Credit Act. Because the Green Deal Finance is a charge against the property utility bills any future owner or tenant of the property will continue to pay the charge until the debt is paid. In this way the debt belongs to the property.

There is a Golden Rule that will be applied to any potential improvement before it can be approved for Green Deal Finance. This Golden Rule has two conditions, first, that the expected saving from the improvement must be equal to or greater that the projected cost of measure itself. The second is that the repayments must not go on longer than the expected life time of the improvement measure.

An independent Accredited Assessment of the building would take place, which will be an independent inspection of the property, such as found in an Energy Performance Certificate. This independent report will help to identify what energy improvement measures would be undertaken upon the property. These measures could potentially include upgrading insulation, changing the heating system and controls and installing renewable technologies.

The information from the Accredited Assessment will then pass onto an approved Green Deal Provider, who are certified installers for the improvement measures that are outlined on the report. It is expected that the Green Deal Provider will analyse the list of improvements with a view to what would be permitted to qualify for the Green Deal Finance.

Before work can commence on the installation of an improvement measure under the Green Deal Finance express consent must be given by all parties with a vested interest in the property. For example, a tenant may undertake improvement works under the Deal, but must have the landlord’s permission to do so.

In this way the Green Deal aims to make energy efficiency measures available for commercial and domestic customers, to help save energy use, make the properties better insulated and to help to reduce the amount of carbon we generate.