Plymouth Community Homes has been awarded a Government grant of £5.6 million to help fund major energy improvements to 600 of our homes in Plymouth.
PCH was successful in its bid for a grant from the second wave of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which was co-ordinated and secured through Plymouth City Council along with a grant for fellow social housing association LiveWest.
In total, 725 homes across the city will benefit from more than £7m of investment in Wave 2 of the fund as part of £778m of funding allocated across England to help ensure thousands of social homes can be upgraded to reach an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C-Rating.
PCH will receive the £5.6m of grant funding and contribute a further £8.6m of our own funds to enable a £14.2m decarbonisation project to be rolled out to 600 homes in the city over the next two years.
A range of energy-efficiency measures will be installed in our social homes, including external wall insulation, cavity insulation and double glazing, and some homes will also be fitted with solar panels and air source heat pumps.
The improvements will help residents to save money on their energy bills and heating costs and make properties warmer, dryer and more energy efficient, as well as reducing their carbon footprint.
John Clark, Chief Executive of Plymouth Community Homes, said: “It’s fantastic news we have secured £5.6m of funding in the second wave of the SHDF which we will match-fund ourselves.
“This will help us to make 600 of our social homes in Plymouth more energy efficient, which will in turn help our tenants to reduce their energy bills and keep their homes warm, dry and comfortable, as well as reducing carbon emissions.
“We are grateful for the support of the council in co-ordinating and securing this funding to enable these vital works to go ahead.”
Plymouth City Council will administer the funds whilst PCH and LiveWest will be responsible of the delivery of the work. LiveWest will receive £1.5m from Wave 2 of the SHDF and contribute a further £1.8 million from its own funds to retrofit 125 of its homes.
Cllr Rebecca Smith, Cabinet Member for Homes and Communities, said: “Upgrading these homes to the best energy efficiency will mean to such to so many people and so I’m grateful for the funding we’ve managed to obtain.
“Once again, though, partnership working with friends and colleagues at PCH and LiveWest has been key and helped delivered positive change for the people of Plymouth.”
