A landmark step has been taken in the fight to reduce fuel poverty in Cheltenham with Cheltenham Borough Homes being awarded a grant to start work on an innovative scheme to support social housing tenants.
The move will also contribute to Cheltenham’s ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Today Cheltenham Borough Homes has received news it will receive grant funding from The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of the SHDF Demonstrator fund.
BEIS released a competition for grant funding through the SHDF Demonstrator (max 40% of costs) to support carbon reduction measures to homes in line with proposals currently being developed within Cheltenham Borough Homes on behalf of Cheltenham Borough Council.
The grant will enable Cheltenham Borough Homes to support the BEIS project by ‘deep retrofitting’ works at two council-owned properties, with a view to significantly reducing the carbon impact of these homes. This is intended as the first step towards rolling out technologies in social housing across the borough, while helping Cheltenham become a carbon neutral town.
As a trusted partner of the Borough Council, Cheltenham Borough Homes is developing a Carbon Reduction Strategy which will include plans for the existing social housing portfolio, taking account of associated HRA budget requirements to help meet the challenging target set by the council to be net carbon zero by 2030.
Emma Wall, Executive Director, Property & Communities, Cheltenham Borough Homes said: “We are supporting the council with their aim to be carbon neutral and are looking at a number of ways of how we can make our existing and new homes more energy efficient and cost effective for those who live in them. This is an exciting opportunity to pilot the effectiveness of measures to inform our thinking on options going forward to reduce the carbon footprint of our homes and make them as inexpensive to run as possible.”
Councillor Max Wilkinson, Cabinet Member for Climate and Communities, Cheltenham Borough Council added: “No one in Cheltenham should be facing fuel poverty. Evidence shows living in cold homes is associated with poor health outcomes and that more than one in five excess winter deaths in England and Wales are attributable to the coldest quarter of housing and that is why we are working closely with Cheltenham Borough Homes to make homes more energy efficient and cost effective for those who live in them. With the ongoing impact of COVID-19 there could be more people in Cheltenham who are going to be facing financial difficulty and left with the difficult choice of whether to heat their homes or pay other bills.
“The council has committed to moving Cheltenham towards carbon neutrality and deep retrofitting of existing homes across Cheltenham will be essential to meet the target. This project will therefore provide an excellent opportunity to learn and gain a better understanding of the challenge that we all face. “
The funding will provide the council, via Cheltenham Borough Homes, with the opportunity to pilot the effectiveness of these measures, and to inform future thinking on the potential options going forward to reduce the carbon footprint of our council homes and to help reduce fuel poverty. This project will also demonstrate to private homeowners and contractors what can be achieved, providing an example of best practice that others can learn from.
View a full list of those who received the SHDF Demonstrator fund at Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator – successful bids - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator project, launched in 2020, is an initial £62 million to demonstrate innovative approaches to retrofitting social housing at scale and upgrading the energy performance of poorer-performing homes, matched with a further £84 million from Local Authorities and Housing Associations, bringing the total invested to £146 million and allowing over 2,300 homes to be upgraded. The Autumn 2020 Spending Review committed a further £60 million of funding for the SHDF for 2021 to 2022
- Stroud District Council has been awarded funding to retrofit an estimated 50 homes, creating decarbonised neighbourhoods. It will install external wall insulation and replace oil and gas heating with new air-source heat pumps, along with solar panels, to improve energy efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint and keep residents warm through the winter months. It will work with Cheltenham Borough Council, Cheltenham Borough Homes and Two Rivers Housing to deliver the project.
Contact the press office on communications@cheltenham.gov.uk | 0800 408 0000