In 2013, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched two complementary schemes—the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO)—to improve the energy efficiency of the UK's housing stock. ECO obligates energy suppliers to install efficiency measures, such as loft or wall insulation, with the cost passed on to energy bill payers.
Through the Green Deal, homeowners fund installations by taking out loans, which they repay through their energy bills. While the Department of Energy and Climate Change reached its target for the schemes to improve 1 million homes by March 2015, it also made the decision in July 2015 to not invest further public funds in Green Deal loans.
The National Audit Office (NAO) are examining what the schemes have achieved, and at what cost, the design and implementation of the schemes and whether DECC is learning lessons to feed into future energy efficiency schemes.