The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (Decc) statistics show no Green Deal plans have gone ‘live’- when the measures have been installed and the consumer has started paying back the loan.
The statistics also show that only four packages under the government’s flagship energy efficiency initiative are ‘pending’ – when a plan has been signed by the customer, progress is being made to install measures and the plan is being finalised so that charging can start.
The figures show that by 16 June, 241 ‘new’ Green Deal Plans, where the consumer has had an assessment and said they wish to proceed with the measures, had been agreed.
This translates into a 0.6 per cent conversion rate from the 38,259 Green Deal assessments that have been completed, to the number of plans that have been agreed.
Mike O’ Connor, Consumer Futures chief executive said: “A slow start should have been expected for the Green Deal, but it has clearly not fired consumers’ imaginations and in particular people are not convinced by the Green Deal financing model.”
The chief executive of the UK Green Building Council Paul King, said: “It is obviously disappointing that more Green Deal assessments have not been turned into finance plans, and it shows just how crucial additional incentives are to drive take up.”
Climate Change minister Greg Barker has said that computer problems have hampered the number of sign ups to the Green Deal.
He said: “Getting software systems running and finance into place for Green Deal Plans to be signed has taken time, so the numbers here are lower. The very first wave of Green Deal Finance Providers have only just got their individual finance terms and conditions in place and gone live with their software systems that operate this whole new product.”
He added: “It will take time as this brand new market finds its legs, but I now expect the number of plans signed to start steadily rising.”