Grants for ‘going green’
I sense a lot of frustration among small businesses about government grants drying up. But never give up.
Yes, VAT has been reduced for homeowners who opt for renewable technology in their home (from 17.5% down to 5%), which of course all helps. However, the allocation of grants has encountered real problems. The entire funding allowance for March ran out just 70 minutes after opening, so many of our customers were unable to secure funding to assist in their renewable energy projects for another month - really disappointing.
Rather than accepting this, Positive Planet has been working hard to lobby the government to review their process of awarding grants for renewable energy projects. Along with the Solar Trade Association we want to highlight just what a negative effect this ’stop, start’ approach is having on the good intentions of homeowners to adopt green technologies and on businesses like ours who can’t plan for our future as well as we’d like. And we’re not alone in this – thousands of homeowners’ and businesses’ frustrations have been voiced in the press coverage on this topic last week. ANYONE who’s currently experiencing these problems with funding their projects MUST take action and contact their local MP.
Now, on to a ‘sunnier’ note! It was very refreshing to see the
enthusiasm for sustainable building at the Eco and Future Build event in London last week (which was also a great opportunity for us to showcase our business to potential customers). I sense a real air of optimism around which will really help to boost the confidence of this new industry. We’re a small business and decisions made by government to support renewable energy through funding our customers is absolutely crucial to our survival.
