Fuel poverty to be tackled with fresh funding for homes

Enfield Council has been awarded £305,000 from the Local Authority Directive scheme which will be used to fund external wall insulation to 61 Council properties. This in turn will make the properties more energy efficient and could therefore help to lower residents’ energy bills.The Council’s ambition is that after the installation measures have been completed, the properties will improve their energy efficiency, or EPC, rating to level ‘C’ or above. The properties to benefit from the funding from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy are in the wards of Southbury, Ponders End, Edmonton Green, Bush Hill Park and Cockfosters.

Enfield Council will contribute an additional £275,000 to the programme, funded from the Environmental Improvements budget, as detailed in the Cabinet report of 28 January 2020.

Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Housing, Cllr Gina Needs, said: “The number of households experiencing fuel poverty is rising in Enfield, without a doubt. It is estimated that one in 11 households in Enfield is classed as fuel poor. The cost of energy keeps increasing, which means households are spending more of their income on paying utility bills. On top of that many homes, particularly older ones, allow heat to escape or have inefficient heating systems. We are therefore keen to investigate how we can make homes more energy efficient which should in turn mean we can help to reduce people’s heating bills.

“We will be targeting households that we know are in financial need, are in receipt of housing benefit and have a joint income of less that £30,000 per year. As well as addressing the issue of fuel poverty, we are also working towards our carbon neutral pledge, as set out in the Council’s Climate Action Plan.”

Enfield Council’s climate action ambitions are continuing apace. In early March the Council announced a £3.8 million boost to help its civic buildings to become more energy efficient and lower carbon in use. This was funded from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The Council also succeeded in securing funding worth more than £1 million from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy for the deep retrofit of 36 homes in the borough.