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Green Deal gets legal approval

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Bill Hull, head of the Green Deal team at national law firm TLT, is adamant that Green Deal will become a significant force despite low public awareness and a disappointing number of companies signing up.

He said: “With the Green Deal launching, property owners and occupiers have the opportunity to make their properties more energy efficient without incurring upfront costs. It is not expected that the Green Deal will get off to an explosive start but it will be significant and momentum is expected to build.

“Hundreds of Green Deal participants are already registered and ready to go and many more businesses will be keen to become involved. Public awareness of the scheme is currently low but the Green Deal has been exempted from the government marketing freeze and a campaign to raise its profile is imminent. Coupled with this, the government has committed to spend £125 million cash back on a first come first saved basis to incentivise early adopters.

“Another significant factor that will drive take-up of the Green Deal is the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). Under ECO the big six energy companies are to make an estimated £1.3 billion a year available to subsidise energy efficiency measures for low income households and hard-to-treat properties. The ECO will work alongside the Green Deal. In addition to individuals, local authorities and social housing providers will be particularly keen to take advantage of the new subsidy to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock.

“There is no denying that the Green Deal presents opportunities across the board for businesses, householders, landlords and the public sector. Here at TLT we’ve worked hard to ensure that the standard consumer facing and supply chain documents for delivery of the Green Deal are available from launch.”

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