How can Landlords, Registered Providers & Local Authorities access the new Energy Company Obligation?

by | Oct 21, 2013 | Chartered Surveyors Report for Hard to Treat Cavity Wall Inspections | 0 comments

The New Energy Company Obligation

ECO (Energy Companies Obligation) was introduced in January 2013 to reduce the UK’s energy consumption and support people living in fuel poverty. Forecasted to provide around £1.3 bn / year of support, split between “affordable warmth” (c. £325m/yr) and energy efficiency improvements for “hard to treat”, largely solid wall homes (c. £975m/yr).

ECO will run until March 2015, supporting the installation of energy efficiency measures such as cavity wall insulation in low-income households and rural areas, and in properties that are harder to treat.

green deal

ECO replaces the old energy efficiency grants, know as CESP and CERT, which places a new requirement on UK energy suppliers to deliver against both CO2 and fuel poverty reduction targets.

ECO is expected to be the only form of long-term subsidy available in support of Green Deal and it will be utilised where homes might otherwise fail to achieve the ‘Green Deal’ Golden Rule (calculation) either because they are currently under-heated (and so the scope for savings are lower), or where the necessary measures to reduce energy use are very high cost (such as solid wall insulation). Government proposals suggest that 75% of the available funding will be focussed on hard-to-treat, solid wall homes.

 

ECO covers the installation of measures like solid wall and hard-to-treat cavity wall insulation and funded by energy suppliers obligated under the scheme to subsidise the initiative. The UK Government has mandated that properties identified as ‘hard to treat’ must be signed off by a Chartered Surveyor to be eligible for funding.

How can Low Carbon Energy Assessors (LCEA) Ltd help you?

We offer cost effective services on large portfolios and blocks of social housing to Landlords, Registered Providers & Local Authorities. It is too costly and time consuming to commission Green Deal Advisory Reports & Commercial EPCs along with gaining access to each individual property.

If you wish to discuss your ECO requirements or if you would like us to prepare a quotation for a project then feel free to contact the office and we will be happy to help.