Energy efficiency improvements in Coventry have reached a key milestone with work completed on 500 homes.
Last year Citizen announced it was successful in wave two of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund alongside Coventry City Council to carry out energy efficiency works to 2,000 homes across the city.
The housing association worked with the council to submit a bid to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and were successful in receiving a £23.8m grant and Citizen is funding a further £44m to create a £67.6m investment. The money is being spent on energy efficiency improvement works to bring the homes up to an energy rating of a C.
Carbon emissions from domestic properties are the biggest contributors to the city’s carbon footprint (30% of total) so investment to make homes more energy efficient not only reduces energy bills but helps to reduce emissions too.
Arthur Beale is a Citizen customer who has had energy efficiency works completed. These include external wall insulation, fans in his kitchen and bathroom for ventilation and loft insulation — and said he can feel the benefit of the works.
Arthur said: “I am very happy with the work — my house is much warmer now it’s been done.
“Before I had the work done the walls in my house felt cold but now they are warm to touch and you can really feel it when the heating is on. I don’t have to put the heating on as much as I did before the works which is a bonus and the work on the outside of the home makes it look much better too.
“I would definitely recommend these works to other people living in the city.”
Once the energy efficiency works are completed, they reduce the potential for mould growth and reduce the amount of energy the property consumes to keep it a comfortable temperature.
Chief Operating Officer at Citizen Mads Nelson commented: “It’s fantastic that we have reached this milestone and completed energy efficiency works on 500 homes and are so pleased to hear the positive feedback from Arthur.
“At Citizen we are committed to working with our partners to make a positive difference to our customers and create better quality homes — and this project has made a huge difference to our customers with an average saving of £250 in fuel once the works are complete.
“We are continuing to work with Coventry City Council, DESNZ and our contractors to deliver warm and energy-efficient homes to our customers living across Coventry. We’re looking forward to continuing with the project and completing the remaining homes over the next couple of years.”
As part of the project, Citizen has worked with contractors and Coventry College to train the next generation of retrofitters and help them secure employment. The students complete a bootcamp at the college, following which they are interviewed by employer partners and, if successful, can join a training academy and potentially secure full-time employment.
Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Coventry City Council, Cllr David Welsh, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to see the progress of the work to create a better standard of homes for people, especially as it means savings on energy bills for tenants.
“As a council we have seen more and more organisations like Citizen work with us in partnership, playing a major part in improving lives for people. There is lots more to do -when you consider the desperate housing need in the city, but this is an excellent scheme. I hope we can find ways to expand the work to more homes in the future.”
Citizen commissioned Director of GJK Consultants Gareth Keith to support the implementation of the programme. Gareth commented: “It is great to recognise the significant milestone of 500 properties completed and we are delighted to provide project management services to Citizen’s decarbonisation team on this complex retrofit programme.
“The investment will eventually see over 2,000 properties benefit from new energy efficient measures installed in their homes, making households feel warmer and ideally improving their health and wellbeing. It is great to collaborate with Coventry City Council, Citizen, Coventry College, GJK consultants, contractors, and suppliers in this ambitious project which will have such an impact to so many people in Coventry.”
Header image: Councillor David Welsh, customer Arthur Beale and Chief Operating Officer at Citizen Mads Nelson are pictured standing on the doorstep of Arthur’s home.
