The third release of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) has been fully allocated after the œ70m Government pot was emptied in ten days.
The most recent phase of the scheme was opened to applications on March 16, offering homeowners access to finances to be used for energy efficiency improvements. More than 18,400 applications were received before the fund was closed on March 26 after the entire fund was assigned.
The majority of the third GHDIF release (over œ69m) was allocated for solid wall insulation (SWI), with only a small proportion of funds given to those applying for two of the other measures on offer from the initiative.
Ed Davey, energy and climate change secretary, said:
“The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is extremely popular, and the third release has proved no exception. Thanks to this scheme some of the country’s leakiest homes will be warmer and cheaper to heat – permanently.
“We know the best way to help people use less energy and drive down their bills is to make their homes more energy efficient, and through ECO and Green Deal we’ve improved over one million homes across the country.”
An additional œ5m remaining from the second release of GDHIF – which closed after just 30 hours in December 2014 – is being made available immediately to allow householders to continue to apply for funding.
Amber Rudd, parliamentary under secretary of state for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), said:
“It’s no surprise the latest round of funding has been snapped up so quickly, but there’s still money available through GDHIF to help even more people have a warmer home for less.”
Money for GDHIF is part of over half a billion pounds allocated for household energy efficiency between 2014-2017.
