630 properties in Leeds will see improvements in their energy and thermal efficiency thanks to a £9.6million grant from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The funding will be used to improve some of the council’s least insulated properties in some of Leeds’ most vulnerable communities. The properties identified will benefit from the installation of external wall insultation, reroofing, roof insulation and provision of ventilation.
Leeds has a long and successful history of improving the energy efficiency of social housing. The average council home is typically warmer than an equivalent private property, however, there are still a considerable number of less efficient properties where the council aims to focus these improvements.
Seven high-rise buildings have been identified where efficiency improvements would deliver the biggest economic and environmental benefits. The properties included in the first wave of funding will be: Lovell Park Grange, Lovell Park Heights, Lovell Park Towers, Moor Grange Court, Parkway Court, Parkway Grange and Parkway Towers. Once complete, residents living in these properties will benefit from significant reductions in heat loss, due to better insulated homes.
Leeds City Council will also contribute £12million of its own resources towards the project which will work towards the city’s ambition of being carbon neutral by 2030.
In addition to the funding received by Leeds City Council, The West Yorkshire Combined Authority have attracted a further £5million which will be match funded to total £10million. This investment will further reduce carbon emissions from residential properties across the region.
Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and housing said: “I am delighted that we have received this funding from the government which can now be used to invest into homes across the city which need these improvements the most.
“Ensuring residents have a warm and safe home that they can afford to heat is a priority for the council, especially given the rising costs of energy bills which many people are facing this year; and this project will help to achieve that. It will also support the council’s commitment to invest £100million on energy efficiency upgrades to social housing by 2025 as well as the potential to generate new ‘green’ job and apprenticeship opportunities similar to those we have seen in previous council-led decarbonisation programmes.”
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for infrastructure and climate said: “Every resident in Leeds deserves to live in a warm home. By improving the energy efficiency of some of the coldest council properties in some of Leeds’ most vulnerable communities, we can help reduce fuel poverty (currently experienced by an estimated 10% of Leeds households), and help cut the city’s carbon emissions from domestic properties. It will also help us make Leeds a greener, fairer and healthier city and support local ‘green’ jobs in industries carrying out the improvements, all while supporting our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030.”
