Coventry Homes to Benefit from £2.8m Energy Efficiency Boost
Coventry City Council have approved a multi-million pound scheme to enhance the energy efficiency of 150 homes to cut carbon emissions and combat fuel poverty.
The £2.8 million Homes Upgrade Grant will introduce retrofit measures to households with low incomes, low EPC ratings, and those without gas central heating.
Residents will benefit from improvements including new windows, improved insulation, and upgraded heating systems.
“This will help to cut carbon emissions, tackle climate change and crucially to help reduce fuel poverty,” said Councillor Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change.
It’s really important work and I wish we could do more of it. So, we will be applying pressure to government to help support this work along with a number of other measures.
According to the council’s latest statistics dating to 2021, 20.8% of all households in Coventry are fuel poor.
This latest funding will aid the council’s mission to reduce Coventry’s domestic carbon emissions, reduce health-related morbidity and mortality associated with living in cold homes, reduce demand on health and care services, and improve energy efficiency leading to lower energy bills and increased thermal comfort.
The council also emphasised the importance of improving the energy efficiency of homes not only to address fuel poverty, but to make properties more resilient to cope with climate change.
The scheme will build on the council’s previous work to improve energy efficiency
Coventry City Council are already working to improve the energy efficiency of over 2,500 homes in areas including Binley, Willenhall, Foleshill, and Longford.
Councillor David Welsh, cabinet member for housing and communities, said: “Addressing housing need and ensuring homes are energy efficient is absolutely crucial.
As a country we need to more, much more, to ensure that people can afford to heat their homes while ensuring homes are energy efficient. This is always important – but never more so than now, as people are struggling with the cost of living crisis.
“In our city the figures are stark – around one in five homes are fuel poor and many people can’t afford to stay warm in their home, leaving them trapped in fuel poverty.
“That’s why we will continue to work hard to secure funding like this so we can do more but government needs to prioritise this too.”
Previously, the council had also joined Citizen Housing in a collaboration funded by the second wave of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The £23.8 million grant enabled the partners to deliver retrofit measures to over 2000 homes earlier this year, improving the energy rating to a C through various insulation and ventilation upgrades.
