Cornwall Council has been awarded £7.8million to help make 400 homes more energy efficient and lower their carbon emissions.
The Council’s Public Health team, supported by OVO Energy, Council of the Isles of Scilly, Ocean Housing, Cornwall Housing, Inclusion Cornwall and Community Energy Plus has secured the money through the Government’s Sustainable Warmth Competition.
The initiative was set up by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to enable local authorities to apply for funding to help them install energy-saving upgrades and low-carbon heating in low-income households.
Now that Cornwall has been successful, two fuel poverty schemes will run in tandem for the project.
The first will see 370 properties of private tenure that are not on the gas grid be helped with the installation of heating powered by renewable sources and better insulation.
The second will involve 30 social housing properties that are on the grid having their mains gas removed and replaced with renewable heating and improved insulation.
Energy use in homes currently contributes to around a quarter of all of Cornwall’s carbon emissions.
It remains a priority as part of the council's dialogue with government about the support required for Cornwall to become the first net neutral region of the UK.
Andy Virr, Portfolio Holder for Adults and Public Health, said: “Having a warm home is a basic human right and this money will help people in most need, who often face the dilemma of whether they can afford heating during winter.
“Having a warm home is not only comfortable, but also important to keeping people healthy, which in turn helps to reduce pressure on our health services.”
Olly Monk, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, said: “Heating a home should not be a luxury for anybody and this money will help those on low incomes to have access to lower cost energy that is powered by renewable sources.
“It will also lower homes’ carbon emissions, helping in tackling the climate emergency and contributing to Cornwall reaching net zero emissions by 2030.
“This is really important and everything we can do to help make homes across Cornwall more energy efficient plays into the work that is going on to reduce our carbon footprint, as well as making people’s homes more comfortable and reducing their energy bills.”
It is expected that the £7.8m will be allocated the Council in December, with work taking place until March 2023.
It will be delivered through Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s award-winning Winter Wellbeing partnership, which aims to improve health, reduce fuel poverty and help people progress into work.
Story posted on November 19, 2021