In response to the news that the government is withdrawing hundreds of millions of pounds from the Green Homes Grant scheme, Adrienne Minster, CEO of Rated People, said: “The Green Homes Grant has been hugely successful in motivating homeowners to make green renovations to their homes, with demand for improvements covered under the scheme soaring year on year. However, there have clearly been issues with grants being approved and payments being made for the work, and it is disappointing to learn that a large part of funding is now being withdrawn. The Green Homes Grant can play an important role in the government’s pledge for a post-coronavirus green recovery and we would urge them to re-think this decision and look into ways to solve the operational challenges, so that the scheme can end up becoming a real success.
Like all SMEs, trades businesses run tight budgets and are very sensitive to cashflow, so any disruption to payments puts their businesses at risk at a time when they would particularly benefit from government support. We would love to see the government look into the issues and prioritise arranging delayed payments, to ease any unintended financial pressure on tradespeople.”
