Love it or hate it, the Green Deal isn’t going away and is gaining momentum each and every month, according to the latest figures.
Choose to ignore it at your peril, says Green Deal consultant at Solar Money Saving, David Mooney, who has devised a system, whereby an installer can become a provider, meaning they control and access the finance, taking their business to a whole new level.
The Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC), effectively the Green Deal bank, at the start of December 2014 announced an additional £50 million is available to support Green Deal Plans, taking Green Deal funding into autumn 2015 – well ahead of the General Election. This is in addition to the £100 million released through the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund.
David said: “This time last year, 1,400 Green Deal plans were moving through the system, now there are over 8,088 plans.
“A Green Deal provider sits at the very top of the Green Deal scheme and is the only participant able to directly access Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) and Green Deal funding. An installer has to find a Provider and ‘team up’ with them in order to work within the Green Deal.
“The Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GDORB) acts on behalf of the Secretary of State and manage a very complicated Green Deal authorisation scheme. Because of this, few installers have the time, staff, or skills to be able to see the work through from start to finish in becoming a provider, particularly if they are already busy and absorbed in their present workload.
“This is one of the main reasons that there are a much smaller proportion of Green Deal Providers registered than Green Deal installers, making the provider very popular in the Green Deal market.
“It just seems sensible and logical that in order to take control of your business and not be relying on a third party that an installer becomes a provider.
“I provide a bespoke service on behalf of an installer, where I will obtain the Green Deal provider status for them. I am able to dedicate myself to the task in hand and being familiar and experienced in the various processes, guide a company through the masses of paperwork and tasks to enable it to become a Green Deal provider and eventually bid on ECO funding, enter bi-lateral agreements with the big six energy companies, and access the Green Deal Finance that is now available through the GDFC.
“A company will also require a Full Permission Lending Consumer Credit License in order to operate as a Green Deal provider. The standards have increased significantly in obtaining a consumer credit license by the Financial Conduct Authority, the bar has been raised, and again I take this burden away, enabling an installer to concentrate on their existing core business whilst I get on with the process.
“If your company already holds a Consumer Credit License then all firms with interim permission will be asked to apply to the Financial Conduct Authority in early 2015. A Green Deal provider will require Full Permission Lending, which I have already successfully obtained for several Green Deal providers.”
For more information, call: 07887 552 442.