The Government’s rapid closure of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF), following a surge in applications, is a disappointment for many in the heating industry.

The spike in applications for the GDHIF followed the announcement from DECC that the first £50m threshold had been met. This led to 21,464 applications being made by the end of July totalling around £117m, just two months after its launch in June. The scheme, that provided homeowners with an opportunity to claim cashback if they installed eligible energy saving measures such as cavity wall insulation or a condensing mains gas boiler, offered homeowners a significant incentive for energy improvement measures.

We knew the fund was not going to last long, but closing it so quickly has been detrimental to confidence. What the GDHIF has proved is that there is an appetite from end users to install energy efficient measures, if there is adequate monetary support available. From the research we have recently conducted with installers, there is definitely a need for providing support and optional finance to end users to help them upgrade to higher efficiency homes.

For this very reason, we have included a finance package option with our revamped Affinity loyalty scheme. Affinity Pro is an enhanced subscription level of Affinity that offers installers the opportunity to offer finance to end users at a competitive rate for their boiler installation. Vokèra’s chosen finance partner is also a Green Deal provider, meaning, as well as having the ability to offer finance, installers can benefit from the Green Deal and its other incentives, without the burden of unnecessary extra paperwork. This additional offer is based on a subscription package, which includes full training to use the iPad App, so users can create quotes, store all their jobs and process finance.

Pre-registration for Affinity is open now, ready for the launch in October 2014. Installers already on the Affinity scheme will be automatically transferred to the new Affinity, so if you are already a member you can enjoy the new benefits as soon as they begin in October. New users can simply register through the Vokèra App (available October in iOS and Android) or via the Affinity website www.vokeraaffinity.co.uk/prelaunch.