In a major speech at the annual Ecobuild conference in London, Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker declared the coalition is to cut more red tape to allow small commercial property businesses into the Green Deal market.
The Green Deal is the Government’s strategy to improve the nation’s draughty homes and commercial properties at no upfront cost. It will be launched later in the year.
Speaking of the strategy, Mr Barker said: “I want to see a thriving Green Deal market which means we must make it as easy, as cheap and as straightforward as possible for businesses of any size to get involved.
“So I have cut the red tape to help promote a competitive market and reduce costs which will not only help small businesses in particular but will also make the Green Deal a better deal for consumers.”
In his speech, Greg Barker proclaimed:
- Removal of the requirement to hold a security bond in case of bankruptcy. Feedback from the consultation points out that having such a bond would be extremely costly, particularly for smaller commercial Green Deal providers and would act as a deterrent to join the market. Instead, requirements will be included in the Green Deal Arrangements Agreement and Green Deal Framework Regulations to guarantee that a Green Deal provider’s on-going responsibilities are fulfilled by the person who is entitled to the payments under a Green Deal Plan, and that the Secretary of State is still able to provide compensation and recalculate the plan if the duties are not completed correctly.
- Removal of the obligation to offer an independent conciliation service, instead there will be a requirement for commercial property Green Deal providers to have an independent conciliation service in place to offer customers an alternative route of redress. Customers would always have option to a trusted intermediary and as a result this service would only ever be voluntary for the customer. With this in mind, this requirement was seen as a replica which could add unnecessary time to the compensation process. In addition, a personalised Green Deal Ombudsman service will be procured to provide compensation for customers.
- Alterations to warranty proposals. Lifetime guarantees on every measure will now not be required as this would significantly increase costs for some measures, such as boilers. As an alternative, the lengths of Green Deals will be restricted to estimated measure lifetimes and fixed minimum standards. Commercial property Green Deal Providers will be required to use appropriate existing market schemes and where they are not available, robust minimum standards will be authorised.
In response to the announcement, Tim Pollard, Head of Sustainability at Wolseley said: “Government’s new proposals are great for SMEs, reducing costs for businesses and consumers but still making sure there is a lot of consumer protection.”
David Adams, Head of Retrofit at Willmott Dixon, commented: “We welcome DECC’s proposed policy changes. They maintain a high standard of consumer protection whilst enabling businesses to drive down costs in a way that they will benefit consumers.”
