Cash boost aims to make Stratford homes greener - The Stratford Observer

Cash boost aims to make Stratford homes greener

Stratford Editorial 1st Apr, 2021   0

A FUNDING boost will help more homes in Stratford to be more energy efficient.

Stratford District Council (SDC), working with Orbit Housing Association, has secured £1.45million from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).

The scheme supports the decarbonisation of social housing and aims to boost green jobs as part of the Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan.

The district is one of 17 areas to take part in the trial scheme to see what carbon reduction measures can be undertaken on current housing stock. In addition to the government funding, Orbit is investing £2.2million into the project.




Survey work is now underway on properties across the district with a view to identify what measures will help lower each property’s carbon footprint. The measures are likely to include external wall insulation, floor insulation and air source heat pumps. Once identified, the measures will be applied over the coming year.

SDC project spokesman Nick Cadd said: “We are delighted that residents in Stratford district will be benefiting from this project. Improving energy efficiency and potentially saving money on fuel bills is good news for tenants as well as making homes warmer and reducing carbon emissions across the sector.


“This project and funding will allow us to explore the most appropriate measures that would help improve the energy efficiency of the homes people in our area live in.

“As part of this, Orbit is making significant investment to improve the energy efficiency of their properties – and we will be supporting them during this project. We look forward to learning the lessons from the demonstrator project, so that other residents can also benefit in the future.”

Paul Richards from Orbit added the scheme supported its commitment to reduce our carbon footprint through lower energy consumption.

He said: “By working with the district council on this, we will help our customers in Stratford to benefit from a more energy efficient home through national, Government funding. This project will allow us to drive real innovation in response to the challenges that present themselves when retrofitting sustainable technologies to a home. It is our aim to take the lessons that we learn from this work into to our ongoing home improvement programmes.”

There will be no charge for the survey assessment, or any subsequent work undertaken. All assessments will be carried out with prior agreement of the Orbit customer and in a covid-safe manner.

Measures are expected to be installed by December.

Results will be carefully monitored following installation and shared across the sector before more properties receive similar measures.

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