A proposed government scheme to help homeowners ‘green’ their properties could represent good news for builders and contractors in a sluggish market, according to a home improvement company.
The scheme, which is expected to be rolled out in the autumn, is likely to offer offer loans of up to £6,500 for home energy efficiency improvements repayable over 20 years or more from savings on fuel bills. Learn more here.
Rated People, which aims to help householders find reliable local tradespeople, has been considering the impact of the scheme on the building industry:
Home improvement scheme offers hope amid ‘depressing news’ for builders
The government’s planned green deal is the only “ray of light at the end of the tunnel” for a construction industry suffering from declining workloads and a lack of home improvement spending, the Federation of Master Builders has said.
Brian Berry, the organisation’s director of external affairs, believes the proposed scheme, which will provide a loan of up to £6,500 to allow residential property owners to enhance the energy efficiency of their dwellings, could involve the retrofitting of around 26 million houses.
He said this is the only positive for the builders amid “yet more depressing news” on orders and spending. Read the full story here.