A £6million programme of works designed to reduce energy use, make homes warmer and tackle climate change has been completed on 205 homes by North Kesteven District Council, with the promise of more to come in future.
The scheme, described as ‘retrofitting’, involves replacing energy-hungry heating equipment, boosting insulation and installing green technology. It is funded partly by the Council and partly by Government grants.
For greatest impact, the properties selected for improvements were those with the lowest Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings. Once completed, homes that have been through the retrofit process have more insulation, are warmer and are typically cheaper to run.
205 council bungalows across nearly 40 North Kesteven villages have benefitted from the work, delivered by NKDC’s partners, Equans. Green technology added includes solar panels and heat pumps, along with upgraded heating systems and monitoring equipment.
Prior to the scheme the average EPC rating of the homes was a D, but now half are rated B or above, with the rest at least a C. These homes can save up to £1200 per year on energy, depending on individual usage.
Council Leader Councillor Richard Wright said: “It’s a proud moment to see such a long-term project come to fruition and so successfully. We all feel the effects of increased energy bills, so to be able to help residents reduce energy use while helping the environment is rewarding for everyone involved.
“Our teams have worked hard, alongside our partners Equans, to deliver this work over the past two years, and they’ve got it down to a fine art. There’s minimum disruption to the tenants for maximum gain.
“It’s so important for us all to do what we can to cut our energy use and it makes our team proud to see air source heat pumps and solar panels popping up on our homes.
“The project has been such a success that we’ve already allocated money to fund retrofitting of another 100 homes, and we’re working hard to secure funding for more of our homes in future. As we see the long-term results we hope to provide an example for other homeowners of what can be achieved.”
Mr James Jackson, the resident whose home was visited by Cllr Wright, said “The work done on the house has been superb. It’s changed the temperature of the house throughout. We’ve got the smart meter so the bills, from what we can see, are coming down. Dramatically coming down, so we’re quids in.
“The workmen who installed it were absolutely brilliant. It’s as though they’d rehearsed it – you’d stand there mesmerised and it just got done in two days. You can’t praise the whole team enough because from start to finish they were absolutely superb.”
When asked what his advice would be to other council tenants who are offered the retrofit scheme, Mr Jackson said: “Don’t worry about a thing. All the workforce from the planning to the installation to the solar panels, it just goes like a dream. Didn’t even have to make them coffees!”
In total, 200 of the 205 homes retrofitted had solar panels installed, expecting to generate nearly 3,000kW of electricity per home per year. Each home should save 2.8 tonnes of carbon every year, a total of 560 tonnes across the scheme. Residents also have access to a Domestic Energy Officer to help them get the most out of their new systems.
This scheme has been made possible with £3.2million being funded from the council’s housing budget and £2.8million from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Homes are selected for the work based on their EPC rating, with the lowest-scoring properties being tackled first. There is an ambition for all of the Council’s home to be as energy-efficient as possible, though this process has to be carefully managed and resourced.
Alongside the decarbonisation work, the Council has an ongoing programme of investment so that its homes continue to offer a good standard for residents, with repairs and upgrades taking place on a rolling basis.
Their current Housing Revenue Account business plan, that sets out the overall capital improvement plan, is being refreshed and there are plans for further consultation in the coming months to ensure investments remains on areas of high priority to tenants.
Councillor Ian Carrington, Executive Board Member for Housing, said: “This is just the start. At North Kesteven we have ambitious plans to make all our housing stock more energy efficient, saving money on energy bills and cutting emissions.
“In addition to our own money, we’ve been very successful at winning Government grants to pay for the work. Right now, we are bidding for many millions more. If successful that brings cash into our District to be spent locally on better homes for our residents”.