Council gets £1m from Govt to help make homes more energy efficient
NEARLY £1 million has been given to Derbyshire Dales District Council to help the authority make homes in and around Ashbourne more energy efficient.
The district council has won a grant of £907,500 from the government to install heat pumps and insulation into its portfolio of houses, therefore raising their energy efficiency rating.
The handout, a slice of £430 million being given out to authorities through Midlands Energy Hub, will see work starting in early 2022 in homes with poor energy ratings.
The primary purpose of the funding, which is part of a consortium bid to the Sustainable Warmth competition is to raise the energy efficiency rating and therefore reduce the emissions from low income and low EPC rated homes both on and off the gas grid.
Homes with an energy rating of E, F or G are being prioritised.
District council leader Garry Purdy said: “Once again this authority has risen to the challenge of winning vital funding to tackle fuel poverty in low income households here in the Dales.
“I want to thank officers for their sterling work in making this happen.”
And the district council’s climate change officer Jo Hill said: “Heating for homes and workspaces makes up almost a third of all UK carbon emissions.
“Improving the energy efficiency of homes ensures they require less energy to heat, with the additional benefit of making them cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in.
“The next couple of months will be used to build a delivery programme for this grant funding and we will share further details when we have them.”
The Sustainable Warmth competition brings together two existing fuel poverty schemes into one funding pot - and the district council has already successfully applied for two previous rounds of funding.
This has led to an energy revamp for 49 non-traditional homes in the district, including some in Hognaston and Ashbourne, and a further 50 homes owned by social housing provider Platform spread across the district.
To date the council’s energy efficiency project has safeguarded 87 jobs and created six new jobs and nine apprenticeships, reducing carbon emissions across all tenures by approximately
5,383 lifetime carbon tonnes.
Funding from previous rounds will continue to be used in the New Year with more external wall insulation schemes in Matlock’s Mornington Rise.
The district council’s director of housing, Rob Cogings, said: “Thermal insulation will bring targeted properties up to the standard of new homes built today, reducing energy costs by 40% to 50%.
“The principles of this new phase are the same as the previous project – we will be looking to target homes with low energy efficiency ratings in the owner-occupied and private rented sector. “Areas are yet to be agreed but it is likely we will extend our existing external wall insulation scheme.” The government has recently announced that it will be investing a further £950 million into a Home Upgrade Grant first phase over the next two years, and the district council continues to work towards preparing a pipeline of homes for inclusion in future rounds of grant funding applications. The phase aims to provide funding for energy efficiency and low-carbon heating measures to vulnerable households and low income families in owner occupied and privately rented homes living in the worst quality offgas-grid homes.
The works are likely to include installation of insulation and heat pumps.
Thermal insulation will bring targeted properties up to the standard of new homes built today. Rob Cogings