£3m awarded to Plymouth is a Green Deal

More residents will soon be able to install energy efficiency measures into their homes thanks to an extra £3 million secured by Plymouth City Council.

The announcement follows a bid to the Department of Energy and Climate Change as part of their Green Deal Communities Fund.

Plymouth is one of only 24 Local Authorities across the country to be awarded funds following a very competitive selection process and is recognition of the work already being delivered in Plymouth through the Council's established partnerships with British Gas and Plymouth Energy Community.

The money will be used to help fund three main projects; the first will look to provide grants of up to £5,000 towards the cost of solid wall insulation. These grants will be targeted at the homeowners of the least thermally efficient houses in the city, predominately these will be in the same streets as social housing properties where Plymouth Community Homes are installing similar improvements. 

Secondly, funding will be used to create four show homes by refurbishing long term empty properties. These will act as local demonstrations of energy improvements, and act as a temporary hub for advice on how residents can change the way they buy, use or generate energy. 

Thirdly, the project will deliver a programme of free energy efficiency advice in the form of Green Deal assessments for households across the city.  These will provide guidance on the best energy improvements for individual homes.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Brian Vincent said: “In 2012 we created a dedicated Low Carbon City team to give us more focus on the need to increase energy efficiency, keep homes warm and reduce costs. This money would not be coming to Plymouth without their hard work, which is making a real difference to many homes across the city.”

It is anticipated that the first set of grants will be available in early summer.