There is a summary article about the Green Deal flagship Conservative policy here:

Green Deal will fail (new window) >

The Green Deal is supposed to help regenerate old building stock, by giving loans for work such as insulation, etc. Unfortunately there are financial strictures based around a return of 6.9% which means works have to save that percentage over their lifetime use; few do.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change in June 2013 conducted 38,256 assessments. But only 245 Green Deal finance plans were made, and only four (4) were signed bu the customer.

The debate is that with these sort of rules, no one can ever get the money, or would want it, as cheaper sources are available.

It is also a system that is not well-known, and involves too much bureaucracy.

At the same time, money from the local Councils is reduced for improvements to housing stock, and any free insulation for cavity walls and loft spaces is the responsibility of energy companies, which is erratic and subject to means testing.

This reminds me of the system of loans and incentives for solar power installations over the last ten years or so, which were farcical. Due to the unpredictability of funding, led to major problems in the solar supplier market with many companies stopping supplying.

So as usual a lack of overall planning and integration leads to a failed green energy policy.