LONDON: The government's Green Deal scheme launched yesterday with two approved providers - well short of the 50 plus needed to make the scheme work.
The Green Deal aims to stimulate the market for energy efficiency retrofit work in buildings by providing low cost loans that are tied to the property where the energy efficiency measures are installed.
The legislation underpinning the scheme comes into force today with consumers able to get an assessment to see if their home is suitable for the work. However, finance behind the scheme will not be available until 28 January.
The figures published by the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body show two providers, the firms that will take a lead on selling the scheme and organising the finance, have been approved. Insulation firm InstaFoam and Fibre and consultant Inteb Sustainability are the only two names on the register.
There are also only seven firms able to carry out assessments. Among them were energy firm British Gas and insulation installer Mark Group and 73 firms had been approved as installers of energy efficiency measures.
Tim Lunel, chief executive of the National Energy Foundation, said he would expect there to be up to 100 providers and assessors registered with thousands of installers registered once the scheme is fully up and running.
Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said the numbers were "disappointing". "If there's only two and there were about 16 interested it demonstrates the problem [and complexity] with setting up a Green Deal provider."
