Around 800 households across the West of England who are suffering from the cost of living crisis are set to benefit from improvements to their homes to help save on energy bills.
Thanks to a £12 million upgrade package for properties across the region secured by the West of England Combined Authority, people will be able to save between £200 and £400 each year.
The cash will go towards loft insulation and new windows for 780 of the West’s hardest-to-heat homes, to bring them up to an energy efficiency ‘C’ rating over the next two years.
With 31% of total carbon emissions in Bath and North East Somerset coming from leaky homes, the upgrades will help the West of England in its efforts to reach the ambitious net zero by 2030 target.
The schemes will also support hundreds more jobs in the construction and home retrofit sectors, helping in the delivery of Metro Mayor Dan Norris’s pledge of creating 23,000 new green jobs.
The funding award adds to the over £8 million brought forward by Mayor Norris for retrofitting across the region.
Mr Norris has warned there is still more urgent work to do to retrofit the 250,000 homes in need of energy efficiency performances in the West of England, as he vowed to redouble efforts to insulate homes and keep more money in people’s pockets in a cost-of-living crisis.
He said: “The climate and cost-of-living emergencies are the biggest challenges we face as a region right now.
“That’s why this is such a big win for Bath and NE Somerset and our region as we insulate the gorgeous Georgian Bath townhouses, Bristolian Victorian terraces and beautiful lias stone cottages and more to slash emissions and reduce home energy bills today – and long into the future.
“That’s vital at a time when energy prices are going through the roof. And it’s all the more vital if we are going to reach our very ambitious net-zero targets.”
