East Suffolk Council
An extra £3m for warmer, greener Suffolk homes
More Suffolk residents are set to benefit from Government Green Homes Grants thanks to a further successful bid for £3m funding by a Suffolk consortium of local authorities, adding to a previous award of £1m secured last year.
The funding, provided by the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, will provide energy efficiency measures for owner occupiers of properties with poor energy performance ratings. Partner local authorities are already working on delivering five projects by March 2021, and have a completion deadline of September for the five new schemes. These are external wall insulation of 100 park homes in West Suffolk, 150 park homes in East Suffolk, and 70 Flagship Group properties, insulation and air source heat pumps on 100 homes in Babergh and Mid Suffolk, and internal wall insulation for 10 properties through Leiston Net Zero/EDF.
The Greener Homes scheme, which is designed to help make homes more energy efficient, is also available direct to homeowners, as well as to councils, offering vouchers up to £5000 to households to get energy saving work done. The scheme is open until March 2022, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-the-green-homes-grant-scheme
Cllr James Mallinder, cabinet member for the Environment, said:
“I am delighted that we have been able to secure this funding to improve energy efficiency in homes across Suffolk. East Suffolk Council is committed to developing and delivering a strong environment vision and following our climate emergency declaration in 2019, this is an important step in reducing our carbon footprint in homes. Not only does better insulated homes reduce energy costs for residents, it also reduces the resources needed to heat and care for our homes, and by making small changes now, we can make a big difference over time.”
Cllr John Griffiths, Leader of West Suffolk Council, which led the consortium bid, said,
“I am delighted to see how our track record on working together across Suffolk on the climate emergency is helping to reduce fuel bills for more of our residents. West Suffolk alone has some 550 park homes, a type of housing with generally poor insulation and which occupiers can sometimes struggle to heat. The window for making these bids, and for delivering the projects is extremely tight, but by close collaboration and by partners having schemes ready, we were able to secure this very welcome funding. This opportunity is also available direct to householders, and information on how to go about benefitting is on our website and www.greensuffolk.org By making your homes more energy efficient, you could be warmer, save on fuel bills and, of course, do your part in working towards a carbon neutral Suffolk by 2030.”