Maidstone-based housing association Golding Homes has successfully bid for £1.4m from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF Wave 2.1).
The money will help to fund a £2.9m project to retrofit 111 homes in and around Maidstone, including houses at the Royal British Legion Village in Aylesford.
Improvements are set to include replacing old, inefficient electric storage heaters with new air source heat pumps, as well as installing loft insulation, external wall insulation and cavity wall insulation to reduce heat loss in other homes. These energy efficiency improvements will make homes warmer and safer and will reduce customers’ energy bills.
Tom Casey, Director of Development and Strategic Asset Management at Golding Homes, commented: “This is a milestone step in our Sustainability journey at Golding Homes. This funding means we’ll be able to make over 100 homes warmer and more energy-efficient for our customers, making a real difference to their lives.
“We’re wholeheartedly committed to providing more sustainable homes for our present and future customers.”
Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said: “This investment will help thousands of households to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and could save hundreds on their annual energy bill.
“The green energy sector is growing, and this funding will support green jobs and provide the training needed to deliver these vital upgrades to homes.”
This project forms part of Golding Homes’ wider commitment to providing sustainable homes and its journey to achieving the Government target of meeting net zero carbon by 2050. It follows the housing association’s recent gold accreditation by SHIFT (Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow), which benchmarks best practice in the housing sector.
Golding Homes is also working with Breyer Group to upgrade around 800 homes with an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) D rating as part of its target for its homes to meet EPC C standards by 2030. This work is starting in April 2023 and will help lower emissions and energy costs in these homes.
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