Winchester City Council is launching a new programme to help tenants reduce their energy costs and make their homes greener.
Retrofit Ready will allow any council tenant living in a house or bungalow with an energy rating of EPC Band D or below, to opt-in to the new programme.
It will include an energy assessment and a range of energy efficiency measures including loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, the replacement of energy inefficient doors and windows and upgrades to extractor fans to remove damp air from homes. The best measures for each home will be decided following the energy assessment.
This new programme complements the Council’s existing ambitious Retrofit programme which is already underway. This focuses on a fabric first approach given the disruptive nature of this work, such as the installation of internal wall insulation into council properties with the lowest energy rating, and properties that are waiting for new tenants.
The measures identified as ‘Retrofit Ready’ can be completed while people remain in their homes and in advance of any future major retrofit work.
Cllr Paula Ferguson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community & Housing says:
“This programme could not have come at a more critical time for our tenants when many are really concerned about the rising costs of living and particularly how they are going to pay their energy bills. The Retrofit Ready programme will help identify measures that can make tenants homes warmer and more energy efficient, which will in turn help to reduce energy bills. The programme will also help the district move forward with its greener faster ambitions, reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions from its housing stock at the same time.”
Winchester City Council will shortly be writing to all eligible council properties with information of how to opt into the programme.
