The failure of the Green Homes Grant Scheme was a disappointment and the Government must learn from these findings to ensure similar, future schemes work better for industry and consumers, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in response to the release of the Public Accounts Committee’s report into the “underperforming” Green Homes Grants Scheme.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB said: “It is not surprising to read the Public Accounts Committee’s damning assessment of last year’s Green Homes Grant Scheme. By the experience of our own members, the FMB echoes the Committee’s criticisms and know that the scheme was too short-term in outlook. Critically, it did not allow sufficient time for builders to upskill and gain the necessary accreditations. For those that did make the leap, they ended up spending large sums of money only to have the scheme pulled from under their feet.”
Berry continued: “This stop-go green initiative undermined certainty for both the public and builders in trying to stimulate demand for energy efficient home improvements. The Government needs a National Retrofit Strategy which sets out a clear, long-term plan to upgrade our existing homes and would go some way to restore faith in green initiatives with the public and industry.”