Seven cities across England have received a share of £12 million to help them kickstart the Green Deal in their regions.

The cities – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – have put forward ambitious proposals to lower their carbon emissions and this new funding will support their plans to test key elements of the Green Deal.

The Green Deal helps people pay for home improvements like insulation through savings on their energy bills.

This new funding will be a key opportunity to test elements of the Green Deal framework like assessment and installation, and provide early feedback. The proposals received include retrofitting properties across whole communities and initial indications suggest that the cities expect to deliver to around 2,500 retrofits to households and non-domestic properties.

All of the cities are also proposing to generate match funding and/or provide direct support themselves.

This work is intended to support future Green Deal activity in these cities, significantly raise awareness of the Green Deal through community engagement and show homes, and provide support to local supply chains including trained Green Deal advisors and registered installers.