However low the interest on your loan may be, and even if you have a long, long time to repay, you will still have to find the money at the end of the day. An interesting idea is to allow the new owner of a house to take over the previous mortgage.

The Climate Change and Energy Secretary will facilitate the installation of environmentally friendly technologies in homes as part of an initiative to reduce carbon emissions. The so-called green refurbishment, which could include installing smart meters and fitting insulation, could save householders hundreds of pounds on energy bills each year. The energy companies are being leaned on by the Local Government Association to establish a multi-million pound fund to finance a mass insulation programme.

The Communities Secretary and Energy Secretary are preparing to launch a new energy-saving and heat strategy, which is intended to reduce emissions from homes by an ambitious 30 per cent before 2020. Low-interest loans will be offered to home owners to enable their property to have an environmentally friendly makeover.

The Government fears that many householders are reluctant to install energy saving improvements due to high initial costs, which cannot be recovered when they move house. In an attempt to address these concerns, families will be offered very low interest loans, which can be repaid over a considerable length of time and the new owner would take over the repayments on the sale of the house. In addition, if the home owner, who has installed green technology, produces energy as well as consuming it, then they would be entitled to a refund on their bills. To date, about 4 million homes have received help to enable them to become more environmentally friendly.

The Energy Secretary says that it is essential to refurb every home, in every street, so housing stock in the UK can contribute to a greener way of life. A lot has already been achieved with over 4 million homes already insulated, but many more people want to take part in saving money and reducing carbon. New ways must be found to slash energy use and to generate cleaner energy. Home owners cannot be expected to handle these challenges by themselves, so the Government is prepared to step in and offer the necessary help, he says.

The grants will be funded by fossil fuel companies, who will probably pass these costs on to home owners in their energy bills. Although families will receive subsidies, they will eventually hand some of the money back through higher charges.

The initiative has been condemned as yet another stealth tax. A spokesperson for the Taxpayers Alliance, says that increasing the bills of everyone, to finance green energy for just a few, is crazy.