People are choosing to ignore information about government subsidies when planning to make energy efficient changes to their home, a new survey has found.

Pay4Later’s research has revealed that from the 58% of people planning to make energy efficient changes to their homes over the next 12 month, only 21% will take advantage of government subsidies…

Although 37% are actually aware of government subsidies in this area, they won’t use them, and almost one-fifth of the population - 18% - do not even know these subsidies exist.

For 39%, loans will be the preferred choice to finance these changes and of these people, just over one in three will borrow up to £2,500, 17% will borrow between £2,500 and £5,000, and a staggering 8.6% - or 1.1 million people will borrow over £10,000.

John Wark, Marketing Manager of Pay4Later said: “The amount of finance we have provided for energy efficiency home improvements increased by 83% between April 2014 and April 2015.”  

In terms of the energy efficiency home improvements people plan to make, 35% intend to improve their property’s draft proofing, and 31% are looking to enhance insulation levels in their homes.

John added: “Despite energy costs coming down, the average annual bill for a dual fuel customer is still £1,265.  

“This, coupled with the fact that many households have felt a financial squeeze in recent years, means making energy saving improvements to your home can be one of the best ways to cut your annual cost of living.”

John said he believed the low take-up of government subsidies was due to a lack of awareness and the application process being too long and overcomplicated.

“We also believe that people are increasingly waking up to the fact that they may find a more competitive financial deal elsewhere,” said John.

“We offer energy efficiency suppliers and installers instant-decision finance for their customers starting at 0% APR, which can be better than the rates offered through the Government’s Green Deal, for example.  

“This consists of a financial loan where people pay this back through the savings made via their reduced energy bills, and its typical APR varies between 7.9% and 9.2%,” explained John.