A NUMBER of council house tenants in Taunton and Oake can look forward to lower heating bills thanks to work to improve energy efficiency in their homes.
Somerset West and Taunton Council has secured a £385,000 Government grant to help make the homes warmer.
And there's likely to be more cash to improve the insulation in more council homes in the area.
The award came from a £4.8million pot handed to the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) through the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
The South West Energy Hub, hosted by WECA, will work with SWT to deliver the improvements which include extensive works to the properties in Oake and Taunton.
The investments will follow a ‘fabric first’ approach to carry out works such as wall, roof and floor insulation and triple glazing.
The measures will reduce the power used in the homes by around 40 per cent and the overall energy performance will improve from an Energy Performance Certificate level ‘D’ or ’E’ to EPC of ‘C’ or higher.
Cllr Fran Smith, SWT executive member for housing, said: “We are proud to be to be one of only a few councils in the South West building its own low and zero carbon social housing, as well as maintaining and upgrading its existing social housing.
“As a social housing landlord, the council is continually working to improve its housing stock, upgrading and making it energy efficient and fit for the future.
“This commitment is more important than ever as energy bills soar with the cost of living crisis, so we are delighted to be working with our partners to deliver greener, warmer homes that people can afford.”
The funding will provide energy efficiency home improvements to 467 social housing properties across the South West region and SWT has already started preparing a much larger grant bid to be submitted in the spring.
Jon Rattenbury, programme director for the South West Energy Hub, said: “The confirmed SHDF funding is fantastic news for the South West region.
“Our successful bid will ensure we can continue support the delivery of green energy and energy efficiency measures as we look forward to tackling the climate emergency and reducing fuel poverty in the coming years.”
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