It's really hard knowing what schemes are still running to help with refurbishing properties. One year ago we managed to get dozens of lofts insulated on rental properties, then for a very brief period free boilers were available for benefit tenants. Overnight the boiler scheme ended with lots of stories of plumbing firms not getting paid and being bankrupted.

The current trend seems to be External Wall Insulation (EWI) which has followed on from Cavity wall insulation. EWI doesn't suit that many properties as it removes lots of decorative features. We have submitted grant applications for about 20 properties but fully expect this scheme to be withdrawn quickly too.

As so much of this funding seems to have been cut, I assumed that the government must be close to reaching their target for the cut in emissions by 2015, yet recently it has been widely publicised that the Association for the Conservation of Energy claimed: 'The total number of energy efficiency measures has fallen 60% in the past year. Existing energy efficiency programmes will miss recommended targets from the government's climate advisers for insulating all remaining cavity walls and lofts by 2015.'