DECC Minister Greg Barker says the Green Deal is a massive new market opportunity for businesses and industry and is as much a part of the Government's growth agenda as it is a part of its climate change policy.

Speaking to delegates at the British Property Federation's annual residential conference he said: "Our estimates suggest the Green Deal could support up to 65,000 jobs by 2015. And we are talking about billions of pounds worth of investment."

Government, he said, is creating the legal framework but will not be prescribing a single business model. Instead, "our intention is for this to be a new, open and dynamic market that will drive innovation."

To help ensure the best deal for consumers, we want to encourage a wide variety of different businesses - large and small - local authorities, social housing providers and third sector organisations to play a role in this new market. 

And to help this newly forming market in its early days, said Barker, DECC has announced a £200m injection of Government funding to provide a time-limited introductory offer.

"And I'm pleased to say that there are a number of organisations looking to enter the market with a variety of different business models. These models include - but are by no means restricted to - keeping all the functions in house, out sourcing the supply chain and working in partnership with SMEs. We have been having conversations with these organisations from the outset, but the tone is changing. We are moving from theory to practice."

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