Retrofitting for the future

At last night’s Cabinet meeting (Wednesday, 16 June) a programme to retrofit domestic homes occupied by council tenants was approved.

Each of the homes will receive whole-house retrofits, including insulation and ventilation, low-carbon heating systems, and solar PV panels for on-site energy generation.

The Energiesprong retrofit model guarantees a net-zero energy performance which includes a year-round comfortable temperature of 18-21 degrees centigrade, energy and hot water generation to meet the needs of the households, for up to 30 years.

Councillor Lauren Wall, cabinet member for genuinely affordable homes said: “This programme is hugely exciting.  We are starting with 68 homes, 44 houses and 24 flats but are already planning for the long-term and surveying a further 5,000 homes to see if they are suitable for retrofitting.

“Our residents will have minimal disruption while the work takes place, remaining in their homes the whole time, and will be consulted before works begin and supported after to use the technology that will see them saving hundreds on their energy bills.”

Key benefits from this programme are:

  • Reduced energy bills
  • Improved neighbourhoods with attractive, refurbished housing
  • Year-round comfort
  • Improved indoor air quality
  • Health and wellbeing enhanced with the eradication of mould and condensation.

Tenants will also receive a new electric cooker as the gas services will be removed as part of the programme of works.

Councillor Deirdre Costigan, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action said: “Ealing is leading the way on delivering real and practical advances in the fight for climate change. Residents can save up to £300 per year on bills, evidence that taking climate action can have a positive financial impact.”

Tenants will be consulted during the design phase and their feedback, where practical, will be incorporated in the final delivery. Engagement with tenants will continue throughout the works and for 12 months after to ensure they are supported in using the new technology in their homes.

The total cost of the programme for the initial 68 homes is £5.52 million, of which 40% is funded from the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the EU Interreg North-West MUSTBE0 Grant.

Read more on this exciting development and the council’s Green Homes Grant - Housing to take a leap forward with Energiesprong - Ealing News Extra

Like all decisions of the council’s cabinet, this decision is subject to final approval call in.