Residents of a north Oldham neighbourhood can look forward to a more comfortable winter this year, following major home refurbishments completed by their landlord, Onward Homes.
Housing association Onward is nearing completion of its largest ever energy efficiency improvement project in Greater Manchester, retrofitting 47 terraced houses in Coldhurst to make them warmer and more comfortable for residents facing rising energy bills.
47 homes have been fitted with a range of upgrades where needed, including double-glazed windows and doors, insulation to walls and loft spaces, and new roofs to improve energy efficiency – making them more comfortable throughout and easier for customers to heat.
In total, Onward has invested almost £2million into the project, with £550K in grant funding drawn from Wave 2.1 of the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), following a successful bid managed by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
The project has also delivered almost £20K in social value contributions to worthy local causes, through targeted investments from contractor Sustainable Building Services (SBS). As well as providing local schools and community facilities with funding and resources, SBS also supported two 6th form students to learn skills through a work experience placement.
To mark the project’s completion, Onward welcomed representatives from the GMCA and Oldham Council for a tour of the neighbourhood, led by the local Project Team and accompanied by Onward’s dedicated Retrofit Customer Lead.
Onward’s Coldhurst retrofit project is part of wider efforts by GMCA and their registered provider partners to improve the energy efficiency of social homes across the city region.
More than 6,000 of the region’s social homes are receiving upgrades totalling £113m, after GMCA secured almost £45m grant funding from the first two waves of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, with a further £68m in match funding provided by local partners.
