Almost 700 homes across Nottingham are set to benefit from state-of-the-art measures that will make them warmer and more energy-efficient.
Nottingham City Council has secured government grants totalling £9m to carry out a range of improvements in social and private housing, which will give residents warmer homes and low energy bills. The remainder of the scheme budget will be provided through a fund of accumulated rental income from Nottingham City Homes tenants.
The UK government today announced the allocation of £562m from its Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator and Green Homes Grant funds to councils across England and Scotland, to upgrade 50,000 of the least energy-efficient and fuel-poor homes with green improvements, reducing carbon emissions and supporting thousands of green jobs across the country.
In Nottingham, one scheme will see wall, roof and floor insulation installed on 104 NCH properties in the Hoten Road area of Colwick which currently suffer from draughts, damp and mould. This work will be carried out by this December.
The project is part of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator. Nottingham’s approach, which attracted £2.3m from the BEIS fund, will result in lower energy bills for tenants and reduce carbon emissions — contributing towards the city’s target to be carbon neutral by 2028.
Under the Government’s Green Homes Grant scheme, Nottingham City Council has secured £6.7m more in BEIS funding. This will allow a further 40 private homes and 50 more council homes in the area to also benefit from the measures — which will be carried out along the lines of the innovative Energiesprong methods that have already transformed homes in Sneinton.
It will also pay for 500 owner occupied homes across the city to receive fully-funded solar panel installations, providing cleaner, cheaper energy. The Green Homes Grant-funded schemes alone are expected to generate annual energy bills savings of £277,050.
City Council Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Energy and Environment, Cllr Sally Longford, said: “Whole-home refits like this make an enormous difference to how much people can enjoy their own homes, feeling warm and comfortable, in the knowledge that their bills have been drastically cut.
“We’ve seen this with our Energiesprong homes in Sneinton, which have gone from being draughty properties with high energy bills, to being net zero carbon houses which are warmer and cheaper for residents. I’m really pleased we have managed to secure this vital funding from Government and are ready to crack on and get this work started and one of the projects finished before the end of the year — another step towards carbon neutrality by 2028.”
Head of Energy Services, Michael Wayne Bexton, said: “Now more than ever we need to tackle fuel poverty to ensure people live in warm, energy-efficient homes that prevent illness and reduce carbon emissions. Securing these funds for Nottingham will help us continue to deliver innovative retrofit solutions, directly aligned with achieving our carbon neutral aspirations. This latest funding adds to a portfolio of initiatives being delivered across private and social housing and represents one of the leading responses to tackling fuel poverty among UK cities.”
Nick Murphy, Chief Executive at Nottingham City Homes, said: “We have already transformed the homes of many residents across to city, helping to reduce emissions and bills whilst increasing warmth and well-being for residents.
“Our joint retrofit schemes have been very successful and it’s great news that we now have the funding to improve more homes across the city, as well as helping fight climate change and tackling fuel poverty.
“It’s important that we insulate our homes and make them more energy-efficient for the future. Residents have told us they have seen a real difference — making their homes warmer and cheaper to run.”
UK Business and Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “We are ensuring households across the country enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions — all while creating new work for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople.
“This is an initial down payment on the UK Government’s plan to invest over £9bn into eradicating fuel poverty, improving the lives and homes of low-income households. This is yet another important step we are taking to eliminate our contribution to climate change and build back greener from the pandemic.”
Header image showing Nottingham ©wajan/AdobeStock
You can read more about the Government’s £562m funding announcement aimed at making the homes of over 50,000 households warmer and greener, here.
