The Greater London Authority (GLA) has launched a new ECO4 Flex service, which for the first time will cover the whole of Greater London through a single-entry point, enabling installers to gain access to the capital’s 2.8 million private sector homes, across all 33 London boroughs. Greater London benefits from having 600,000 homes with an EPC rating of E, F and G and further 1.36m with an EPC of D, plus large numbers of homes that fall into the worst three deprivation deciles, one of the eligibility proxies for Flex, making it a prime area to generate ECO4 works.
The GLA has selected HeatFlex to manage the new ECO4 Flex service. HeatFlex, a new service from energy saving experts Happy Energy Solutions Ltd, provides an end-to-end ECO solution, making it simple for both installers and local authorities to work under ECO Flex. With many local authorities either delaying their Flex schemes due to the new tougher Ofgem rules, or even deciding to opt out altogether, the HeatFlex service, which is free for local authorities to use, opens up a simple and low risk way for them to run a Flex service, so is expected to be adopted in many areas across Britain.
To take advantage of the service, installers must be Trustmark registered and will be required to sign up to a code of conduct. Once installers have passed the on-boarding process, they will become a member of the national HeatFlex installer network, instantly gaining access to ECO Flex across London and access to ECO Flex in new local authority areas as the service expands. Installers who are struggling to gain traction with ECO Flex near to them, perhaps due the reluctance of the local authorities to take part, can also signpost them to HeatFlex, opening up the opportunity to work in that area if they subsequently agree to sign up.
Much like many ECO Flex schemes, HeatFlex charges a fee to installers for each application made, which covers the cost of running the service on behalf of the local authority and then a second fee if the declaration is issued, to cover post installation inspections on behalf of the local authority and a dispute resolution service. As an organisation highly experienced in delivery of ECO programmes, the compliance team at HeatFlex will ensure that the eligibility is fully checked and verified, preventing any declarations being accidentally signed where the household is not eligible. Unlike ECO3, if Ofgem or the energy supplier discover that the resident was not eligible, or perhaps that the evidence collected was not robust enough, there is a chance the measure may be revoked by Ofgem and the money clawed back by the energy supplier, so by working with HeatFlex, installers know that their Flex approval has come through a quality assured process and that the appropriate evidence will be readily available for the annual supplier audit, which will also be available to the installer through their own secure portal.
With the launch of this new ECO4 Flex service, the message is being sent to reputable installers, both locally and nationally, that London is open for ECO Flex, creating a significant opportunity to access millions of homes, which unlike other areas of the country, remain largely untapped by previous ECO schemes.
HeatFlex registered installers will be published on a website that local authorities will be able to signpost to, helping to generate free leads and showing that they are a reputable business to contact. The service will also link up with Happy Energy’s Heat Project, which works alongside local authorities to generate qualified leads, giving access to additional lead fed work if the installer wishes to take advantage of this.
As part of the service, installers also get access to an eligibility checker website, which confirms the flex eligibility, flags if the property is subject to the rural uplift in Wales and Scotland and indicates if the property is in a conservation area or a listed building. The system is also ECO+ ready, and displays council tax bands alongside EPC data, all of which is displayed automatically once the address has been looked up.
Installers and local authorities interested in joining the service can enquire at www.heatflex.org.uk
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