More than 300 homes in Great Yarmouth to benefit from £6.5m in eco upgrades
Eligible residents could get free heat pumps or solar panels
Last updated 9th Aug 2023
More than 300 homes in Great Yarmouth are to benefit from £6.5 million of funding.
The council's getting the funding as part of a national scheme, worth £1.4 billion nationally, to upgrade more than 115,000 homes across England to help lower energy bills.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has been awarded HUG2 funding to improve 317 homes across the borough over the next two years.
The Council is now working with energy and sustainable solutions provider E.ON to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the area, at no cost to homeowners.
Residents who heat their home using oil, LPG, coal, wood or electricity and meet the eligibility criteria could benefit from a free upgrade.
The upgrades available are an air source heat pump, solar panels, cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation and loft insulation.
Nicola Turner, Great Yarmouth Borough Council's Head of Housing Assets, said: ''We're delighted to have successfully secured this funding, so we can help residents who are living in our borough's least energy efficient homes.
"We intend to help those living in properties with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D or below and with no form of gas heating.
''We very much welcome this funding and the work E.ON is undertaking on our behalf will make a real difference to many of our residents.
''Across the borough of Great Yarmouth, properties in 1,282 postcode areas will be eligible for funding with no financial contribution, whilst in other areas, the works will be free to residents whose household income is less than £31,000.''
Adam Scorer, Chief Executive of National Energy Action (NEA), said: ''This vital investment is desperately needed. Low-income households, in the least-efficient homes, are being hardest hit by the energy crisis and are having to pay hundreds of pounds more than the typical household just to heat and power their home to a minimum reasonable standard.
''As well as helping to abate the impact of high energy bills for thousands more households, we hope the investment can lessen some of the physical and mental health impacts for people unable to keep warm at home.''