10th
Mar 2021
The absolute chaos around the government’s Green Homes Grant which is supposed to be helping thousands of landlords and home owners, is becoming even more disastrous.
The Times has been told the scheme has so far issued a paltry 22,165 grants out of a target of 600,000 and could probably finish in March.
PM Boris Johnson launched the scheme last September recently announced it will to be extended rather than scrapped.
In the past few days a spokesperson for an industry body, said: “Our survey data shows that 43 per cent of landlords are interested in applying for a grant and there is clear appeal in the potential of the scheme to ensure the energy efficiency improvements we all want to see.”
The all-party Environmental Audit Select Committee is highly critical of the government’s failure to deliver the grants to owners and landlords and stated: “The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme opened for applications on 30th September. In November 2020 we conducted a survey to find out how easy it had been for home improvers to access.
“In total, 510 people responded to the survey. Alarmingly, 86 per cent of those responding to the survey had had a poor experience with the process, although just over half applying had found the Green Homes Grant eligibility calculator helpful.
“The eligibility criteria, however, prevented many from being able to access vouchers for the measures they required: homeowners must install primary measures before receiving the same funding towards secondary measures.”
The committee wants the scheme to be fully revamped and extended: “Delivery has been poor for consumers and has led to perverse consequences for installers, and the scheme remains too short-term to have any prospect of achieving its initial targets. We recommend that the Green Homes Grant scheme be urgently overhauled and extended to provide greater long-term stimulus to the domestic energy efficiency sector.”
The government has so far not made any announcements on whether the scheme will be extended or brought to a close; however according to The Times it predicts the government will in fact close the scheme.
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