Tomorrow  is poll day and marks the culmination of months of campaigning for the next General Election.  Thousands of us will cast our votes to decide who should be responsible for running the country.

On this penultimate day, we’ve pulled together some key information and thoughts on the issues affecting homeowners – particularly in relation to renewable products and technologies.

Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have all promised to improve energy efficiency, and while the government launched its Pay As You Save (PAYS) scheme late last year, it seems sustainability is high on the list for the three main parties consideration.

Through the PAYS initiative, DIY Britons are provided with incentivised loans to carry out green home improvements.  The success of the scheme remains to be seen of course.

A recent blog post by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) outlined its concerns for a suitable strategy to encourage more homeowners to improve their homes in order to meet carbon targets, later highlighting that the campaign “…seems to be gaining pace with politicians and those of us lobbying them.”

As a result RIBA has called for the next Government to retrofit 4 million homes within the lifetime of the next parliament.  In the same post RIBA also reported on the ‘Cut the VAT’ coalition (of which RIBA is a member), which “proposes a cut in VAT on home maintenance and repair to 5%.”  The coalition also asserts that by lowering VAT, more homeowners will take up the offer of eco-fitting their homes, particularly if at the same time they are putting in a new kitchen or bathroom – but is this enough to achieve target and will our political leaders take note?

Environmental policy

Let’s take a look at Labour’s environmental policy and see how it compares to the other two main parties:

Labour’s energy and climate-change policies include:

• Achieving around 40 per cent low-carbon electricity by 2020
• Creating 400,000 new green jobs by 2015
• Making greener living easier and fairer through ‘pay as you save’ home energy insulation
• Energy-bill discounts for pensioners
• Banning recyclable and biodegradable materials from landfill

The Conservative’s environmental policy

Key environment policies include:

• Working towards zero waste
• Providing incentives to recycle
• Encouraging sustainable water management
• Work for reform of the Common Fisheries Policy
• Offering every household a Green Deal
• Transforming electricity networks with ’smart grid’ and ’smart meter’ technology
• Expanding offshore wind and marine power

The Liberal Democrat’s environmental policy

The Lib Dems believes it is the only party willing to make the tough choices to stop “real and dangerous” climate change.

Key environmental policies include:

• Pledging that at least 20 per cent of energy and 40 per cent of electricity will come from renewable sources by 2020 rising to 100 per cent by 2050
• Seeking to toughen limits on pollution across Europe
• Introduce a supermarket ombudsman to get a fair deal for farmers
• Ensuring guaranteed fair prices for energy consumers
• Making energy suppliers ensure homes are well insulated
• Roll-out of smart metering in five years
• More investment in public transport to cut emissions

(Source Environmental Policy: General Election 2010: 12th April 2010, Louise Gray, further information available here)

Hanging in the balance

A lot of information for us all to digest.

And with recent media speculation on the likelihood of a hung Parliament, what bearing will this take upon our Government’s approach to the environment and green technology for homeowners?

Some of the likely effects of a hung parliament on homeowners were recently outlined by consumer affairs correspondent Harry Wallop for the Telegraph – click here for the article in full.