as usual he has overthought things

 'venus - I suppose it is - is now the evening star,

and very bright she is immediately after sunset in the

early twilight.' - henry david thoreau, in his journal, on this day in 1851.

no kafka is considered worthy of reproduction by brod until april 19th 1916 now. 

ok horsemouth thinks he has spotted a trap 

let us examine the device closely to see if it is a trap.

that members of a housing co-operative are to some extent 'owners' of the property owned by the housing co-operative

of late the members of the communal endeavour seem to be particularly enthused by the notion that they are 'owners'. it is not enough for them to be tenants of or members of the communal endeavour they must be 'owners'. horsemouth must caution that all of these statuses derive from them being members of a co-operative and thus all members of the co-op are all three (members-tenants- and thus perhaps owners(jointly) of all the co-op's properties). 

but this is a particular kind of 'ownership' - when horsemouth terminates his tenancy with the communal endeavour, for example, his membership will end and so will his 'ownership' of any of the co-op's property. 

this variety of ownership may not be enough to enable members of the co-op to tick the box marked 'home owner' (or indeed even the box marked 'tenant') and thus get access to money under the ECO4 and ECO+ schemes to insulate the properties they live in or get a newer (more efficient) boiler fitted. this is because as far as horsemouth understands it these schemes are intended for individual homeowners who own their 'own'  homes (even if they are still paying off the mortgage on it) and for the tenants of private landlords and not for tenants of registered social landlords (like the tenants-members-'owners' of the communal endeavour). 

however each ECO scheme is administered by the company providing the power there is a wide variation in entry requirements so horsemouth cannot say for certain that it is impossible. he would however caution members applying for these schemes to make sure their supplier is absolutely clear as to their status and eligibility. horsemouth wouldn't want anybody to end up being charged with fraud or misrepresentation or having to repay the cost of the measures installed.  

as far as horsemouth understands it social housing landlords (in this case the communal endeavour) should apply through the warmer homes scheme to bring their properties up to an EPC C standard (as they are legally required to do by 2030). and p.s.  this scheme will not fund boiler upgrades. 

if (on the other hand)just want to be hailed as 'owners' in order to assert more control and agency over the process of decarbonisation horsemouth welcomes this. the government is keen that people participate in the warmer homes scheme, that they 'take ownership'.

the communal endeavour has hired people who are expert in this field to manage the process and soon they will be setting up meetings with the members in the individual houses to discuss the measures it is proposed be fitted. and then a process of negotiation will begin. 

ok horsemouth is reassured. it is not in fact a trap but an opportunity. 

horsemouth understands that ECO4 and ECO+ will typically fund one measure (loft insulation or cavity wall insulation) and as long as the request for funding for that measure is not duplicated in the communal endeavour's application to the warm homes programme then it is not a problem for the communal endeavour. 

on the suggestion that the communal endeavour take over responsibility for the gas and electricity bills of the households

horsemouth supposes the other thing that bothers him is the suggestion that the communal endeavour take over responsibility for the gas and electricity bills of the households. currently the communal endeavour does not see about 10% of the rent due (due because it is not paid by the members). horsemouth has no desire to repeat this with the gas and electricity money. admittedly this would be on a smaller scale but nonetheless neither horsemouth (as treasurer) nor the staff like this scheme. 

now there would be advantages to 'bulk-buying' energy. it might lower the cost per kwh and thus help alleviate fuel poverty. but this could conceivably be organised outside of the structures of the co-op itself (this horsemouth would support). 

similarly there are advantages to having smart meters and smart tariffs - i.e. buying  and using energy when it is cheaper to produce - but does horsemouth want to get involved with this on a communal level? (probably not). 

that reminds him he is still trying to get a smart meter fitted at his house in the wen (so he can take advantage of these deals).

but really this is much less of a priority for him now. as usual he has overthought things. 

it's the morning. horsemouth has just been out to feed the chickens. horsemouth's brother and his family are here. he has his coffee. horsemouth is sleeping in the 'office', he is looking at the abbey rota notice himself and his mum are back on on the 13th january (and then again on the 10th of march). 

interestingly enough horsemouth dreamt about finding journals in a charity shop.