Archives for July 2020

Following the news in the Chancellor’s announcement last week of the Government’s new Green Homes Grant Scheme, the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) received many calls and emails from anxious Members with some serious concerns regarding the scheme and its impact on their businesses.

Having listened to Members’ concerns, the GGF, as the industry’s main trade body, was quickly in contact with the Government department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Ongoing communications with BEIS on the matter have followed as the GGF aims to get more details of this major Government initiative.

The GGF asked five key questions and received the following answers from BEIS.

GGF: Is the Green Homes Grant Scheme going to include energy-efficient windows and doors?

BEIS: Yes, but as part of a wider refurbishment of homes aimed at achieving EPC Level C. The aim of the scheme is to significantly improve energy and heat efficiency, which can only be achieved by a number of measures.

GGF: Is there any possibility of the scheme being brought forward from September to say early August? As many companies in our sector are concerned that the two or three month delay in orders could create a hiatus and seriously affect their business and cash flow following the COVID-19 impact on their businesses.

BEIS: It’s highly unlikely that the scheme will be brought forward.

GGF: It has been mentioned that consumers will be able to claim for vouchers and then pass them on to “approved installers”. Can you clarify how the scheme is going to be administered and what the criteria would be for “approved installers”?

BEIS: We do not have further details of the criteria at this stage. However, it’s fair to assume installers would need to be qualified and registered with a relevant body or scheme to demonstrate they are competent to perform the work and ensure appropriate consumer protection.

GGF: Who is actually going to administer the scheme?

BEIS: Funding will be provided to BEIS, and administered through the Simple Energy Advice website.

GGF: Can you provide any information on the application criteria for homeowners? For example, will be means tested? Is there a timeframe for application and deadlines for work to be carried out following successful application?

BEIS: Landlords or homeowners in England only will be able to apply to the scheme. It will be means-tested, with part-funding for measures covering up to two-thirds of the cost, subject to a ceiling of £5K for those not on low incomes, but the full cost of these measures subject to a ceiling of £10K available for low-income households. Applications will be through the Simple Energy Advice website, and vouchers will be issued to homeowners if their application is successful. It is expected that details of the timeframe within which this works needs to be done and published before the scheme starts in September.

On receiving these answers from Government, John Agnew, GGF Managing Director commented:

“Having heard some more of the detail, we are now cautiously optimistic about this proposed new scheme. On the day of the announcement, we listened to Members’ reactions and we fully share their concerns. Although we are pleased the Government is responding to our queries fairly quickly, we are still uncertain about the real impact of this scheme and its potential benefits to our Members.

We have already received numerous reports of consumers putting off orders until the scheme is launched in September, so they can benefit from the funding. The scheme’s timing is clearly creating a hiatus in trade and is seriously disturbing news for the sector.”

“We appreciate this scheme is part of the Government’s long term plan to make existing properties more energy efficient and this is welcomed, but with the COVID-19 pandemic still with us and its negative impact on business and consumer confidence, the last thing we need is another damaging blow that could create cash flow problems and an employment crisis in the industry.”

With more reports of customer cancellations, the GGF has since written directly to Cabinet Ministers and Junior Ministers in the Government departments of BEIS, The Treasury and the Prime Minister’s Office, urging them to take immediate action.

The GGF has also issued a template letter to all its Members asking them to write to their local MPs to increase traction with Government and to try and influence change.

The template letter not only highlights the issue of the timing of the scheme and the damaging impact it is having on the industry, but it also proposes solutions, such as fast tracking the scheme or allowing homeowners to claim funding retrospectively. Both proposed solutions could retrieve the situation. 

On Friday 10 July, the GGF attended the Government Work Stream on Repair Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) – a video-meeting hosted by BEIS and attended by home improvement trade bodies to help shape the strategies and policies to enable the industry to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

Following the meeting, John Agnew commented, “At our video meeting with Government, I once again robustly conveyed our feelings on the timings of the Green Homes Grant Scheme and underlined how it is negatively affecting the home improvement sector. We now await the Government’s response to our latest questions and any further news we receive will be cascaded to Members as soon as possible. In the meantime we will continue to help our Members through this extremely difficult time.”

The GGF has welcomed the very positive news from today’s Chancellor’s Summer Statement which will help companies through in the rebuilding process and create and save jobs. 

In his opening remarks the Chancellor pledged that the Government will do all it can to give people the opportunity for good and secure work and the goal of this plan is to protect, support and create jobs.

Chancellor Sunak stated that £49bn has been provided so far for public services during the crisis and that we are now entering the second phase of the Government economic response to the pandemic which as seen the economy contract by 25%.

On hearing the content of Chancellor’s Summer Statement, John Agnew, GGF Managing Director commented:

“These are very positive announcements and though the full detail of how the various incentive schemes will be implemented has yet to be released, we welcome this level of commitment from Government that should help secure the futures of companies and their employees. The GGF will continue to engage with Government to gain more detail and raise the concerns of our Members and the wider industry.”

The announcement included:

Home Improvement – Green Home Grant Scheme

A £2bn “Green Homes Grant Scheme” will be introduced in September to help make homes more energy efficient. Homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for vouchers up to £5k to install energy efficient measures which should also create local jobs.

The grants will cover at least two thirds of the cost, up to £5,000 per household.

There will also be an additional £1bn of funding to improve the energy efficiency of public sector buildings and £50m to improve energy efficiency in social housing.

Read more GGF comment and reaction on the scheme here

Jobs

• Plans include a new £2bn “Kickstart” scheme to create thousands of job placements for young people. Government will pay young people’s wages for six months, plus an amount to cover overheads. That means, for a 24-year-old, the grant will be around £6,500.
• Apprenticeships incentive offering companies £2000 to take on apprentices and £1500 to companies who take on apprentices over the age of 25
• Trainee incentives –  offering companies £1,000 to take on trainees
• Job Retention Scheme bonus of £1000 for employers who bring back furloughed staff and are still employed by 31 January 2021.
• A new Talent Retention Scheme for Construction, please see link below to the Construction Leadership Council with details, click here

Read the Government’s full press release here

Housing

• The chancellor announces a temporary change to stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland – immediately increasing the threshold to £500,000 from now until 31^st March 2021
• Short-Term Home Building Fund extension – The government will support small- and medium-sized housebuilders that are unable to access private finance by boosting the Short-Term Home Building Fund, providing an additional £450 million in development finance to smaller firms. This is expected to support around 7,200 new homes in England, boosting housing supply and adding resilience to the market. A proportion of this fund will be reserved for firms using innovative approaches to housebuilding such as ‘Modern Methods of Construction’
• Planning reform – The government will introduce new legislation in summer 2020 to make it easier to build better homes in the places people want to live. New regulations will make it easier to convert buildings for different uses, including housing, without the need for planning permission. In July 2020, the government will launch a policy paper setting out its plan for comprehensive reforms of England’s planning system to better support the economy and release more land for housing in areas that need it most.
• School estate funding – The government will provide additional funding of £560 million for schools in England to improve the condition of their buildings and estates in 2020-21. This is on top of the £1.4 billion already invested in school maintenance this year.
• School rebuilding programme – The government has announced over £1 billion to fund the first 50 projects of a new, ten-year school rebuilding programme in England. These projects will be confirmed in the autumn, and further detail on future waves will be confirmed at the Comprehensive Spending Review. Construction on the first sites will begin in September 2021.

The GGF will be reviewing the documents issued by the Government in relation to today’s announcement and will then contact the relevant Government departments requesting more details on the implementation and access of the announced schemes. All new information received and responses from Government will be cascaded to Members in the first instance.