Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Green Deal (Acknowledgment) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and come into force on 28th January 2013.

(2) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“acknowledgment” means an acknowledgment required by section 14 of the Act or regulation 44, 46, 48 or 50 of the Framework Regulations;

“the Act” means the Energy Act 2011;

“early repayment term” means a term included in a green deal plan pursuant to regulation 38 of the Framework Regulations;

“the Framework Regulations” means the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure, Acknowledgment, Redress etc.) Regulations 2012(2);

“green deal plan” has the meaning given in section 1 of the Act; and

“green deal property” means a property in respect of which there is a green deal plan and payments are still to be made under that plan.

Form of acknowledgment where green deal plan contains an early repayment term

3.—(1) This regulation applies where a green deal plan to which an acknowledgment relates contains an early repayment term.

(2) An acknowledgment must be in the form set out in paragraph (3) or be in substantially the same form.

(3) The form referred to in paragraph (2) is—

“

”

(4) The form referred to in paragraph (2) may be part of a document or a series of documents.

Form of acknowledgment where green deal plan does not contain an early repayment term

4.—(1) This regulation applies where an acknowledgment is required and the green deal plan does not contain an early repayment term.

(2) An acknowledgment must be in the form set out in paragraph (3) or be in substantially the same form.

(3) The form referred to in paragraph (2) is—

“

”

(4) The form referred to in paragraph (2) may be part of a document or a series of documents.

Circumstances where acknowledgment is not required on sale or letting out

5.  A seller or prospective landlord or licensor is not required to comply with section 14(2) of the Act(3) where the buyer, tenant or licensee gave a confirmation under regulation 36 of the Framework Regulations at the time the green deal plan was entered into.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations relate to green deal plans in place under section 1 of the Energy Act 2011 (“the Energy Act”), where payments are still to be made under that plan.

These Regulations make provision relating to the requirement to secure an acknowledgment of a green deal plan where there is or may be a change of electricity bill payer at a green deal property. An acknowledgment is required by section 14(2) of the Act and regulations 44, 46, 48 and 50 of the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure, Acknowledgment and Redress etc.) Regulations 2012(4) (“the Framework Regulations”).

Regulation 1 provides for the commencement of these Regulations.

Regulation 2 defines terms that are used in the Regulations.

Regulation 3 provides for the form of acknowledgment that must be used where a green deal plan contains a term allowing a green deal provider to require early repayment of credit.

Regulation 4 provides for the form of acknowledgment that must be used where a green deal plan does not contain a term allowing a green deal provider to require early repayment of credit.

Regulation 5 provides for circumstances in which a person will not be required to obtain an acknowledgment under section 14(2) of the Act. Where a seller or prospective landlord or licensor has obtained a confirmation under regulation 36 of the Framework Regulations, that person need not comply with section 14 of the Energy Act.

An impact assessment on the Green Deal has been prepared by the UK Government and is available at http://www.decc.gov.uk/media/viewfile.ashx?filetype=4&filepath=11/consultation/green-deal/5533-final-stage-impact-assessment-for-the-green-deal-a.pdf&minwidth=true).