The government has given its beleaguered Green Deal scheme a much needed "shot in the arm" with new incentives for homeowners, according to Adam Mitchell, founder of national installer network Futureproof.

Under new incentives, to be introduced from 1 June, domestic energy users can receive:

A total of £50 million is being made available at the rates set out by the government with a further £70 million to be made available for this financial year.

The announcement regarding the incentives coincides with the latest government figures showing an increase in the number of people with Green Deal plans in progress. As of the end of April there were 2,439 plans underway compared to 2,000 at the end of March.

The number of Green Deal assessments also increased from 188,234 at the end of March to more than 210,000 at the end of April.

The Department of Energy & Climate Change also published figures showing that 776,000 measures have been installed under the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) scheme since it was launched, of which 36% were for cavity wall insulation, 29% were for boiler upgrades, 21% were for loft insulation and 7% for solid wall insulation improvements.

“The introduction of the new incentives from 1 June and the latest figures published by the government are small steps in the right direction,” said Mr Mitchell. “However, both the Green Deal and ECO still have a long way to go if they are ever to meet the government’s lofty ambitions.”

“Serious questions still remain around the structure and process of the ECO scheme. Funding has virtually dried up for installers which means that many consumers are being frustrated in not being able to have new boilers and other energy saving measures installed in their homes.”