MPs say that the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme needs to be revitalised through council tax discounts and stamp duty rebates.
Financial incentives such as stamp duty discounts and variable council tax rates have been suggested to help households reduce energy bills and revive the Green Deal.
A group of MPs have published a scathing report on the scheme€™s lack of success and improvements that should be made. They have stressed that "given concerns over rising energy bills, fuel poverty, energy security and climate change, renewed efforts to promote the Green Deal and energy efficiency must be a priority for the Government".
The energy and climate change select committee have given the opinion that the deal brought in during 2012 to inspire energy efficiency needs a complete rethink.
Assessments have been a relative success with 300 000 households receiving them. The problem, however, seems to be in signing up for the packages offered as only 4 000 households have participated in this part of the scheme.
The scheme has been designed to help to make older buildings more energy efficient through a pay-as-you-go scheme. This means no upfront costs, but seems to have led to confusion and mistrust of MPs. The report states "a combination of financial, communication and behavioural barriers has meant that the policy has been slow to attract customers".
A spokesman for the UK Green Building Council commented: "This influential cross party committee has now added its voice to a crescendo of industry and independent experts, who have long called for greater incentives to boost demand for energy efficiency and the green deal. Energy efficiency is too great an untapped opportunity for this message to fall on deaf ears once again. Government needs to treat energy efficiency as a national infrastructure priority, which means a long-term programme of incentives and support, enabling the private sector to get on and deliver lower bills for householders."
In a summary of the report, the MPs finish, "unless the package is made more attractive to a wider group of consumers, Green Deal finance is likely to remain unappealing to many".
