A further £18.4m is to be invested in making Council homes in North Kesteven warmer and more energy-efficient to live in.
A grant of £9.1 million in government funding will be added to the £9.36m already agreed by North Kesteven District Council in its capital programme to upgrade council homes in the District.
This gives a total of £18.46m to make over 750 Council homes warmer, greener and typically cheaper to run.
It is expected that work will take place between April 2025 and March 2028, with each home seeing on average around £24,000 of investment in green technology and insulation.
The process, known as retrofitting, sees insulation installed in homes alongside technology such as solar panels, battery storage and air source heat pumps, which together help to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and electricity from the grid.
North Kesteven District Council Executive Board Member for Housing Councillor Ian Carrington said: “Building on our achievements so far in retrofitting over 300 homes, our brilliant housing team has won further funding to improve the energy efficiency of hundreds more of our Council homes, which we are matching from our own funds.
“That’s government money coming here to North Kesteven, improving lives and driving us further forward towards our carbon net zero aim.
“We’ve already upgraded some properties with solar panels, heat pumps and lots of extra insulation, and residents tell us it’s made them toasty warm and typically much cheaper to run - that has to be good news all round.”
The Council will continue to work with partner Equans Regeneration who have already been delivering similar work in North Kesteven since 2024. This latest project will focus on homes with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D or lower.
The government funding is part of Wave Three of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and follows North Kesteven previously receiving over £6 million from similar government grants. Added to the Council’s contribution, that project has seen retrofit works delivered to 305 Council homes around the District, with most tenants reporting lower bills and cosier properties that are more pleasant to live in.
As a result of this work, North Kesteven District Council has been shortlisted for the ‘Regional Council or Local Authority Body of the Year’ award at the East Midlands Energy Efficiency Awards 2025, the outcome of which will be known on Thursday March 20.
Council Leader Councillor Richard Wright said: “We’re pleased to be recognised with the shortlisting of this award, but it only reflects our wider commitment to making great places for our residents to live.
“The Council’s team has been engaged in developing our retrofit work for several years now. From an initial trial on a handful of houses, to bidding for funds and negotiating budgets, our colleagues have worked tirelessly to get to this point. I know they’re motivated by two things – making life better for our residents, and pushing us on towards our aspiration of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030 – and they’re the same things that motivate the Council as a whole.
“I want to take this opportunity to recognise their hard work, but also to hope that our tenants will be looking forward to being part of the change.”
This funding news comes alongside the recent review of the Housing Revenue Account business plan, which outlines a 30-year programme of investment in improving the Council’s existing housing stock while building new homes for local people.