Households across the UK will now be able to get a free ‘green makeover’ from M&S or B&Q under new Coalition plans to make all homes more energy efficient.

The ‘pay as you save’ scheme will allow people to book a free consultation and survey with an ‘energy doctor’ at the local supermarket to assess where heat is leaking from a home, like a drafty loft or badly insulated boiler.

After the ‘energy audit’ a package will be drawn up for the household that recommends the measures that need to be taken up to a cost of £10,000. But rather than having to incur debt, householders will only have to pay off the debt when they make savings on their fuel bill.

Greg Barker, the new energy and climate change minister, unveiled the move as part of a whole new package to make Britain’s homes more energy efficient.

Other measures in the ‘new green deal’ issued by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition include:

• Smart meters in almost every home by 2016 – four years earlier than the previous government’s pledge.
• Fuel bills that tell people the size of the average energy bill in their area to encourage people to cut down on electricity
• Payments to households that install wind turbines or solar panels for the extra electricity they feed into the grid.