From the Front Line

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, the Govt has announced the roll-out, amongst many other green measures, of its Pay As You Save scheme - the green finance initiative.

The problem with many renewable technologies such as heat pumps is their initially high capital cost. This new scheme will provide loans that will be payable out of the money saved (or revenue earned through Feed-in Tariffs) meaning that the capital cost argument against installation is taken out of the equation.

The clever thing is, these loans - provided by the private sector - will be held against the property itself, as homeowners have a nasty habit of moving every 12 years and not taking their solar panels with them. Whether that will be a benefit or a burden when selling a house ("Oh, it's got four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and you owe Scottish Power £140 a month for the next ten years, but you'll probably be able to pay it back out of the money you're saving") remains to be seen.

The Government has also set ambitious targets for ensuring that every home that can have loft and cavity wall insulation will have it by 2015. 

I have to say that, despite the practical problems, this is a scheme to be welcomed. In two broad strokes, combined with Feed-in Tariffs, the Govt. has made renewables much more financially viable and taken us a long way along the path towards a greener housing stock.

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