The government's latest plans to get us going green are centred on Pay As You Save green home loans. Find out how these could help you cut your energy bills considerably.
When it comes to cutting household carbon emissions the government have some very ambitious plans.
By 2015 they want all homes in the UK to be fitted with loft and wall insulation and by 2020 for 7 million homes to have 'more substantial' energy saving measures in place. In theory at least this will translate to a 29% reduction in household emisions.
While that's all well and good, getting the British public to play ball was always going to be a bit of a challenge.
We all know that making our homes as energy efficient as possible is the simplest way to cheaper energy bills. Unfortunately, however, there is almost always an initial outlay that stops us from making our homes as green as they could be. After all, even if you take advantage of the energy efficiency grants on offer it's still likely that you'll need to pay something upfront and for many people this just isn't do-able.
Thankfully, they've come up with a solution that just could work.
What's the plan?
As part of the government's Warm Homes: Greener Homes initiative the Government plan to introduce Pay As You Save green home loans.
These will be offered by banks, local authorities, DIY companies and even supermarkets and will offer an affordable means of making your home more energy efficient without having to pay anything up front.
You'll be able to use the loan to pay for loft insulation, solar panels or any other energy saving measure that will make your home energy efficient and, here's the interesting part; pay back the loan with the savings you see on your energy bill.
Initial plans suggest that you'll be able to spread the loan over anything up to 25 years, and as your repayment will be proportional to the amount you save, you'll still end up paying less each month for your energy than you were before.
What if I move?
Interestingly, the government are planning to bring in new legislation that will make it possible to tie the loans to your house rather than to you personally. This means that you won't end up paying for energy improvements that someone else is benefiting from if you move home. Instead, the loan will be passed on to the new occupants and they'll be responsible for repaying it in return for cheaper energy bills.
As an added incentive, the government are also working with The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to give properties that are fitted with energy saving measures a proportionally higher market value than their not-so-green equivalents. Ultimately, they hope that this will make installing energy saving measures a must for all homeowners who want to make their property marketable.
When will they be available?
While there is no official go-live date for the scheme as of yet, trials have been taking part across the UK to great success.
One thing is for sure - as a solution that seems like it's going to provide an affordable way to dramatically cut energy bills and help the environment at the same time, pay as you save green home loans are definitely an option worth investigating once they're rolled out nationwide.
