Hundreds of North East and Yorkshire Homes will benefit from energy efficiency upgrades after the Hub and our partners secured £2.6million in additional government funding.
The funding, secured through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund by the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub will enable two landlords to accelerate improvements to 489 homes by the end of this financial year.
This will take the number of homes improved through Hub-managed programmes to close to 10,000.
The funding comes soon after the publication of the government’s Warm Homes Plan, described as “the biggest ever public investment to upgrade British homes and cut bills”.
Housing association believe housing has been awarded £2.1 million, with Bernicia receiving £500,000. Both organisations will match fund the investment to deliver upgrades to help residents stay warm, reduce energy use and cut household bills.
Karen Oliver-Spry, Manager of the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, said:
“This additional funding will take the number of properties across the North East and Yorkshire made warmer, healthier and cheaper to run through Hub-managed programmes close to 10,000 – and these aren’t just numbers, these are households, families and lives made better through the efforts of our consortium members like believe housing and Bernicia. It’s great to see what consortium working and true collaboration can achieve”.
For believe housing, the top up is helping to fund improvements to 339 homes. Measures include loft and cavity wall insulation, improved ventilation, heating controls, energy efficient lighting, and for some homes, solar panels to generate clean electricity.
Kate Abson, Director of Assets and Development at believe housing, said: “This is great news for people living in hundreds of our homes, as it means we can bring important improvements to their homes sooner.
“These upgrades will help people feel warmer and healthier, while reducing energy use and easing pressure on household budgets. They also support local jobs and help cut carbon emissions.
One of the first customers to benefit from the scheme, Terry Beer, said his Peterlee home “feels much warmer” after receiving cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, ventilation improvements and energy efficient lighting in 2022.
Terry was visited by our Retrofit Manager Nicole Huston, and told her.
“It definitely feels much warmer since the work was done.
“With energy prices and the cost of living so high, it’s good to know I’m using and paying for less energy just to keep my home warm.”
Bernicia is using its allocation to improve the energy performance of a further 150 homes, on top of more than 1,400 homes upgraded in earlier waves of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund.
Alan and Pauline Warnaby’s bungalow in Seahouses, Northumberland, has benefited from an air source heat pump, new radiators, loft insulation and solar panels.
“We love it here, it was like winning the lottery getting this house,” said retired joiner Alan, 83.
“It’s a lot warmer in our home now, the workmanship from Bernicia was spot on and we’re very happy and very pleased with the work we’ve had done.”
The North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub is part of a network of five Local Net Zero Hubs in England, directed and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to support local areas and the communities they serve with the development and delivery of clean energy and heat projects.
The Hub’s current objectives include supporting implementation of the government’s recently published Warm Homes Plan. As part of this work, the Hub manages a consortium of 22 local authorities and housing providers which has secured over £101 million of grants and match-funding through the Warm Homes Social Fund and earlier national funding programmes.
