Colchester City Council wins bid to insulate homes

The council will receive over £1m from the government

Author: Charlotte Evans-YoungPublished 23rd Mar 2023

Colchester City Council has been awarded a share of £778m to retrofit social housing, as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).

The money has been made available by the government to improve the energy performance of social housing.

The council will receive over £1m from the government to upgrade the energy efficiency of over 100 homes in Colchester, they will also allocate a similar amount from their own budget.

The hope is that the homes will become well insulated, leaving them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Cllr Julie Young, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities said: “I’m delighted that our bid for SHDF funding has been successful.

“Our mission is to improve the energy efficiency of all our properties, ensuring our tenants have secure, economical and environmentally friendly homes and are able to reduce their living costs too.

“Many residents live in fuel poverty and these improvements will help tackle this. Improving the energy efficiency of our homes will help to reduce the amount of energy used at a time of rocketing energy bills, reducing the impact on the environment and helping our efforts to tackle the Climate Emergency as well as boosting the local economy.”

Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said: “This investment will help thousands of households to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and could save hundreds on their annual energy bill.

“The green energy sector is growing, and this funding will support green jobs and provide the training needed to deliver these vital upgrades to homes.”

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