The first Green Deal service for private rented sector landlords, agreed by the, Residential Landlords Association (RLA) and Enact Energy, goes live this week.
The service will give landlords access to Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). It will be managed on behalf of the RLA by Enact Energy, one of Britain’s leading firms of home energy efficiency experts who already manage home efficiency services for two of the UK’s largest High Street retailers and who have been running similar Green Deal style services for over 100 Local Authorities since 1996.
The RLA service is due to start in early November, initially offering free and grant funded insulation and heating works through ECO and then expanding to offer Green Deal packages next year.
Through Green Deal, property owners across Britain will be able to install a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades on their property, funded by loans of up to 25 years, with repayments being made through a charge on the property’s electricity bill. Through ECO, landlords will be able to access funding worth up to £1.3 billion per annum, provided by energy suppliers, to offer subsidies predominantly for insulation and heating upgrades.
Green Deal enables landlords to upgrade their properties with the cost paid by the tenant through the savings made on reduced energy usage. If the landlord sells the property, the Green Deal finance stays with the home and future repayments are picked up by the new owner or their tenants.
Welcoming the initiative, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker MP said: “The private rented sector has some of the least energy efficient housing in the UK and this new service from the RLA will not only help to tackle that but will also help tenants to live in warmer, cosier homes.”
Alan Ward, Chair of the RLA said: “Green Deal and ECO offers landlords a significant opportunity to improve the energy efficiency and in some cases the appearance of their property, with the added benefit of grant funding and long term finance.
“The legislation and processes can however be complicated and we believe that there is a requirement for a service which understands the unique needs of both our landlord members and their tenants which led us to launch this new service.
“We can offer landlords a complete service from initial property assessment through to installation of the upgrades, with access to grant funding and Green Deal finance all under one roof.
“The RLA Green Deal service will be open to non-members although only members will be entitled to discounts and offers worth far more than the £75 it would cost to sign up. We aim to be the major service for Green Deal and ECO for the private rental sector and are planning to help up to 10,000 landlords to upgrade their properties over the next five years.”