SOUTHAMPTON: The Government's announcement of a loans scheme for green home improvements is set to make it easier for homeowners to install renewable technologies such as heat pumps and solar thermal water heating.
Stuart Mackenzie, managing director at Dimplex, has welcomed the 'pay as you save' loans, which will help encourage homeowners to install renewable technologies by overcoming the financial barriers and upfront costs people face when trying to make their homes greener.
"This is a real boost for the renewables industry as well as being an important step towards meeting the UK's tough carbon reduction targets. With over a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions coming from homes, the government is keen to encourage householders to adopt low carbon renewable technologies and the new loan scheme is a welcome move.
"Together with the new Feed-in Tariff and next year's Renewable Heat Incentive, it will help to remove householders' concerns about the costs involved in installing low carbon technologies in their homes," he explains.
The initiative will cover the upfront capital costs of renewable technologies, with repayments being set at lower than the predicted savings on energy bills, allowing the technology in effect to pay for itself.
In a new approach, the loan will remain attached to the property, rather than the owner. As people move house on average every nine to 12 years, and in some installations the financial payback can take longer than this, the possibility of not seeing a return on their investment may have discouraged householders from exploring green technologies.
Under the new scheme, future occupants of the property will also benefit from the lower running costs and can continue to repay the loan from the savings on energy bills.
The Government is talking to a variety of sectors including retail and banking to work out how the 'pay as you save' green loans can be delivered to householders.
