Tenants at risk of fuel poverty receive boost with £2.6m green home funding
Tenants at risk of fuel poverty in Liverpool and Warrington will see annual energy bills cut by up to £206-a-year after funding for low carbon upgrades to their homes was announced.
North West growth and regeneration group Torus was awarded £2.6m from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and is investing a further £9m of its own money.
A total of 189 properties will receive a combination of eco improvement measures including external wall and loft insulation, solar panels, replacement doors, windows and roofs along with space being left for future solar battery storage.
Liverpool tenants in 132 homes in Walton and six in Kensington will save an average of £206-a-year and those living in 51 apartments of the nine-storey-high Kingsway House, Warrington will save £156.
Work is due to start next month with all three schemes finished next year.
Once completed, the properties will surpass an Energy Performance Certificate C rating with evaluations carried out by Torus to assess the energy efficiency of the work on fuel bills and the impact on tenants.
The SHDF projects complement 40,000-home Torus’ wider environmental sustainability strategy that will play a key role helping Liverpool City Region and Warrington Borough Council achieve net zero by 2040 and 2030 respectively.
An architect’s impression of how Kingsway House, Warrington will look once completed.
Chief Operating Officer at Torus, Catherine Murray-Howard, said: ‘Torus is all about tenants and improving their lives which is why this funding is so warmly welcomed because it means we can help those most at risk of fuel poverty. Everyone should be able to enjoy a warm home without worrying if they can afford it and this is going to be vital with energy bills soaring and general living costs rising.’
‘Not only will these new measures help save tenants money, their health and general wellbeing will improve too all while simultaneously reducing harmful emissions.’
Bid for via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which was awarded £11.1m from Wave 1 of the SHDF to work with nine housing associations, Torus’ was the single biggest grant in the region.
It is now working with partners to prepare another funding bid for more projects in Wave 2.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: ‘Families across our city region are bracing themselves for an incredibly turbulent time ahead, as soaring energy bills continue to threaten those most at risk of fuel poverty.’
‘Working with local housing associations like Torus, we can ensure that every family has the right to heat their home without breaking the bank, and without impacting the environment too.’
‘By working with partners across the region, we have invested nearly £55m to improve the energy efficiency of more than 5,000 homes, cutting fuel bills and helping put money back in the pockets of thousands of our most disadvantaged households.’
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