ENERGY efficiency improvements are coming to more than 1,000 council homes in Rugby.
Rugby Borough Council is to invest in new energy efficiency measures for its homes after it secured a £10.7million grant from the government’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund.
The grant supports the council’s work to ensure all council homes have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by the government’s deadline of 2030.
Councillors agreed to match-fund the Government’s £10.7million – a condition of securing the grant – from the council’s Housing Revenue Account, a ring-fenced budget which can only be spent on the management and maintenance of council tenants’ homes.
Now the council plans to partner with energy firm E.ON to deliver the programme, installing energy efficiency measures such as external wall insulation, solar panels, air source and ground source heat pumps, cavity wall insulation and loft insulation.
Coun Claire Edwards, the council’s spokesperson for communities and homes, regulation and safety, said the programme aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of tenants by delivering warm, energy efficient homes which reduce both fuel bills and carbon emissions.
She added: “We’re delighted to have secured such a significant grant from the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and with the council’s match-funding now agreed, we can push ahead with our ambitious plans to deliver energy efficiency improvements to more than 1,000 council homes over the next three years.”
A previous £1.086million grant in 2023 saw energy efficiency improvements installed at 112 council homes in Rokeby and Long Lawford, a project which was nominated for a West Midlands Energy Efficiency Award earlier this year.
Coun Noreen New, the council’s Liberal Democrat group spokesperson for communities and homes, regulation and safety, said: “This is fantastic news and we look forward to hearing how much these energy saving improvements will help our tenants keep warm whilst also reducing their energy bills.”
Work on the energy efficiency programme is set to start later this year.
