Green Deal Consulatation. Trials Already in Action

 

The past couple of weeks have seen a hive of activity surrounding the Green Deal. The Green Deal consulatation is over and  Last weekend saw Conservative MP’s roundly criticizing their policy. Nick Clegg and Greg Barker made speeches defending the policy and championing its benefits.

But what will happen in October when the initiative is launched throughout the country? Well Sutton Council has been one of the test areas to pilot the scheme and some of their findings make interesting reading.

One of the first things they addressed was the apathy factor. By teaming up with B&Q who helped with a loft clearing service they managed a 3 fold increase in take up. Getting people interested in the Green Deal is going to be tough but the chance to add to the ‘comfort’ of people’s homes was a driving factor. It’s interesting to note that people are more interested in draught proofing and the comfort of their homes than the money saving aspects.

The take up of smaller improvements in the pilot were higher than those who opted for larger measures. This makes some sense as larger projects are a bigger commitment on resources and can be more disruptive. Participants in the pilot also opted to pay the loan back quicker, there were given either a 10 year plan or a 25 yr plan and most opted for the 10 yr plan. Paying the loan back quicker reduces the return on investment but maybe the feeling of being debt free faster is a motivation in itself.

The Green Deal loans are attached to the property and not the person living there so the motivation to clear the debt shouldn’t have the same stigma attached to a conventional loan, but persuading people to view the loans in a new light is probably going to be difficult. A loan is a loan and that’s the way people in the pilot appeared to have viewed it, pay it off quick as possible.

The way the public took up the Green Deal in the pilot should be welcome news to both Mr Clegg and Mr Barker. People wanted to improve their homes from a comfort point of view and not just from a money saving view. The psychology of selling is something that the Government is going to work on over the summer and maybe this new found insight should give them the angle of how to sell the Green Deal: it’s about comfort not money saving .

 

 

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