Grant funding bid shows Council doing all it can to help cut residents bills

The Council is applying to the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Warm Homes Fund for the money. It will be backed by a similar amount of the Council’s own funds to enable a greater number of homes to benefit.

The bid is the Council’s biggest grant application in recent times. If it is successful, a combination of external wall insulation, cavity wall insulation and solar panels would be installed on the 185 homes, with the work being carried out later this year (2025). We will also be installing low energy heating in a selected number of homes.

Cllr Mike Smith, Chair of the Council’s Housing Committee, said: “This grant bid is another practical example of the Council doing what it can to help residents cut their costs, by helping them to lower utility bills.

“On top of that, through reducing the amount of energy needed to heat their homes, the funding would also help reduce the impact on the environment. In turn that helps the Council to lower its overall emissions from buildings we are responsible for.

“The amount of money we are applying for is substantial, and it really demonstrates the scale of our ambition to help local people reduce how much they have to pay to the big energy companies. The environmental benefits are an equally valuable investment in our futures.”

A decision by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is expected in the near future. Houses which could benefit from the funding have already been identified and if the funding bid is successful, the Council and its contractors will contact tenants directly to make arrangements for the work to be carried out.

The Council is planning to carry out these works because it is the owner and landlord of the properties and so has a responsibility to maintain them. There are also grant schemes available for private homeowners and renters to help reduce costs and improve the energy ratings.

Receiving the funding would help deliver and maintain comfortable, energy efficient homes for local people living in Council-owned housing. Doing this is a key part of the Council’s Housing Asset Management Strategy, whilst reducing our housing stock emissions, contributes towards our 2030 operational Net Zero target and the aims of our Climate Change Strategy.

The Council is already installing similar energy efficiency measures at 169 of the homes it owns, after a separate £1.25million grant application was made to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was approved last year.

Work on that programme began in December 2024 and was also supported by a similar amount from the Council’s own funds, made up of rent payments from tenants over the years.