News

£7M for social landlord renewable heat projects

Climate change minister Greg Barker
Climate change minister Greg Barker
46 social landlords across Great Britain have been awarded a share of £7million to get renewable heating into the homes of their social tenants, climate change minister Greg Barker announced today.

The 46 winners are the first wave of successful bidders to be announced under the latest round of the social landlords Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) competition, launched in May this year.

The winning social landlords will use the funding to help install a range of renewable heating kit such as air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, solar thermal installations and biomass boilers.  Two successful landlords include Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire who are leading the way with plans to install over 400 air source heat pumps, and Devon and Cornwall Housing Ltd with funding to help install over 150 ground source heat pumps into homes.

Climate change minister, Greg Barker, said: “The Coalition is determined to help consumers with the rising cost of living. This latest cash boost for social landlords will help install nearly 2,400 renewable heating technologies in the homes of social tenants, helping hard pressed families save money on their energy bills.

“It’s great to see so many social landlords across Great Britain getting involved.  The second strand of our renewable heat competition is still open to bids so I would encourage those who have not yet taken advantage of the funding available to get on board.”

Bids were reviewed by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and assessed by a DECC panel of representatives from EST, DECC and the Scottish and Welsh governments on a range of criteria including value for money, fuel to be replaced, additional energy efficiency measures to be installed and plans to work with local communities. The winning projects offer the best value for money and mix of renewable heat technologies to be installed. Projects will need to be completed by end of March 2014.

Social landlords can still apply for funding under the second strand of the RHPP scheme via the EST website.  The bidding window will remain open until 27 September 2013 and this round is aimed at social landlords who have required more time and support with developing their proposals and submitting applications.  Installations under this second round will have until June 2014 to be completed.