Talk on how to finance making your house more energy efficient has turned to action - that's the good news. The bad news is that it's a small scheme that will only reach about 500 households in five areas of England between December 2009 and April 2011.

Households in Birmingham, Sunderland, London Borough of Sutton, Stroud, Sussex and Surrey will be able to give their house and energy efficiency makeover and pay back the cost out of the savings on their energy bills in a new pilot Pay as You Save (PAYS) scheme.

Launched by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and run by the Energy Saving Trust, the pilot scheme will have £4m funding to trial and assess aspects of Pay as You Save.

These will include consumer interest and particularly the relationship between repayments and savings; how to market the scheme; which partners consumers prefer. They will also test what levels of subsidy are needed to overcome the cost barriers of the more expensive measures such as solid wall insulation and microgeneration.

There was an open competition for partners to run the schemes, which are as follows:

Birmingham

Details and eligibility on the Birmingham section of the scheme, which is run by Birmingham City Council are still to be agreed. Householders will receive whole house assessments, and the project will take advantage of existing funding sources such as Warm Front. Email to register an interest. 

London Borough of Sutton

This scheme is run by B&Q in partnership with the London Borough of Sutton and BioRegional. Homeowners in Sutton will be able to apply for a 40% free subsidy and a 60% interest free loan for significant energy improvements to their home costing in the range of £8,000 to £12,000. They will receive advice and recommendations on lifestyle as well as on product usage. 

Stroud

Stroud District Council is working with Severn Wye Energy Agency to deliver the Stroud PAYS pilot. Homeowners will receive a tailor made home energy survey, advice on action they can take and help finding installers and sources of finance. They will also be encouraged to join a behaviour change programme and monitor the reductions in their energy consumption. Enquiries to SWEA by email or phone: 01452 835076

Sunderland

Gentoo Group, a registered social landlord, will identify 100 properties from occupied and empty properties to retrofit with energy efficiency and microgeneration measures. there will be no upfront costs, and repayments will be spread over a long enough period for repayments to be lower than predicted energy bill savings. 

Properties in the PAYS scheme will be advertised through Gentoo's choice based lettings scheme, and current customers can also apply to have their home included in the scheme.

Sussex and Surrey 

This scheme is run by British Gas, which will promote energy saving measures, including microgeneration, to home owners in Surrey and Sussex. They will receive a home energy audit, and if relevant a technical survey for any recommended measures such as solar hot water or electricity. Application is to the British Gas Green Homes call centre: 0800 107 0187.

Photo by Omar Omar

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