One of the largest housing associations in the UK has secured Government funding to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of scores of its homes in Cumbria.

Home Group has succeeded in a £1.2 bid to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) to upgrade the fabric of 90 homes in Allerdale.

On top of this the group itself has pledged a further £3.3 million to continue the efficiency work over the next five years.

The first homes to be decarbonised are in the villages of Oughterside and Abbeytown. They will benefit from a range of enhancements which will make them much more energy efficient, while bringing significant cost savings for customers.

This is all part of a plan being piloted in Cumbria, and is already underway in the county, with the complete retrofit of 25 homes in Summer Hill, Bootle.

Whole house retrofit solutions are being carried out on chosen estates which are predominantly without gas, and will see the installation of new roofs, heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage and external wall insulation, as well as upgraded windows and doors.

After Summer Hill, the project moves on to the 90 homes in Oughterside and Abbeytown. Work will then expand across homes in Cumbria over the coming years.

The pilot is part of a long-term sustainability strategy to ensure Home Group meets its net zero targets, as well as those of Government.

Close to £160m has been made available to local authorities and housing associations across England through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, in-order-to enhance the country’s energy efficiency of socially rented homes.

Government estimatse this investment will help tenants save around £170 per year on energy bills, while making homes warmer and reducing carbon emissions.

This is the first wave of funding out of a total £3.8bn Government has promised will be spent over a 10-year period – with the aim of improving homes across the country to be cheaper to run, more energy efficient and future proofed.

With figures suggesting homes account for 15 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions, the Government expects the investment will also help towards its plan to reach net zero by 2050.

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