The plan of The Green Deal is basically to lend money to home and business owners, so that they can undertake improvements on their properties to make them more energy efficient. This will make cut energy consumption, and people will pay back the low-interest loans through the energy bills they would be saving money on.
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The 'Golden Rule' of the deal is that the money that is being saved by the improvements will always be more than the amount that is being paid back on each bill.
Critics have focused on the government's estimate that loft insulations will fall by 83%, though this is, in fact, unrelated to The Green Deal. About 99% of lofts in the UK already have some kind of insulation, so obviously the numbers that are being insulated will fall.
If you're thinking of having work done on your house to improve its energy efficiency, you should look into this, as even though plans for Green Deal development projects won't be confirmed until January next year, Green Deal Assessments will start from 1st October. Improvements that are covered by the Green Deal include under-floor heating, draught proofing, and cavity wall insulation.
According to The Guardian, of about 8m solid-wall homes, only about 130,000 have been actually properly insulated. As this could save you up to ten times on your bills, this may be something you could seriously consider getting done to your house.
One issue with the project is that if you sell your house, your new occupants will have to continue to pay off the loan on their bills. Though this may not be a problem now, it will definitely to be something to keep in mind when looking at buying a house in a few years' time.
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