A leading housing association has taken one step closer to achieving its goal of retrofitting 8,000 of its least energy-efficient homes to ensure they are more eco-friendly and reduce the cost of energy bills for its customers.
The largest housing association in the South West, LiveWest has fitted a variety of homes with new solar panels, efficient insulation, heaters and smart meters to improve the energy performance of its homes.
Residents, Tom and Patricia Kingdom have recently had their bungalow retrofitted. Tom said: “During the day, we have been using the washing machines and cutting the grass because of our new solar panels.”
Mr Kingdom has lived at the property with his wife for 16 years and expressed delight over all the improvements completed to his home to help reduce the cost of living and improve his home’s carbon footprint. After having new solar panels, insulation, extractor fans and heating, Kingdom is pleased his home is more eco-friendly after the retrofit works.
Tom added: “LiveWest has been excellent in supporting us with all the work.”
Patricia commented: “We just feel very privileged that the people that have been here have been very kind. They’ve had cups of tea and had very nice chats with them. They were very helpful. We haven’t had any problems with the work at all.
“South Hams is quite expensive to live in, but we are lucky, we have affordable housing and we appreciate what we have.”
LiveWest continue to highlight the importance of maintaining an environmental approach to people’s daily routines.
Sophie Hughes, Senior Commissioning Manager for LiveWest’s Retrofit Programme, said: “We are delighted to hear that Mr and Mrs Kingdom are pleased with their solar panels, insulation, extractor fans and new heating that we have installed at their home. It is fantastic that Mr and Mrs Kingdom have already noticed a difference in their electricity bills.
“We recognise our collective responsibility to reduce our emissions and contribute to a sustainable future. To do this, it is important we reduce our environmental impact across our existing and new homes we build.
“The Cby28 programme underlines our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and improve the energy efficiency of our homes.”
LiveWest’s Cby28 retrofit project will improve the energy performance of 8,000 of its least existing rental homes as part of its mission to be Net Zero by 2050. The housing association is investing £45m to ensure its homes have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2028, two years before the Government’s deadline.
Header image: ©GRW Photography
LiveWest recently appointed a new Head of Procurement to get the best value of service for its customers. More on that story here.
