Mansfield targeted for energy efficiency projects

Cllr Craig Whitby, the Mansfield District Council's Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Finance formally accepted funding totalling £583,500 from the government via the Midlands Net Zero Hub in a delegated decision.

This funding would enable the retrofit of 16 low-income households with external wall insulation, loft insulation and new doors and windows and provide six properties with solar photo-voltaic panels.

Cllr Whitby is also due to formally accept funding of £495,000 from the Hub for another scheme targeted at 38 poorly insulated privately owned homes which do not use mains gas as their chief energy source. The money would enable a range of measures to be fitted, including cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and external wall insulation.

To be eligible for this scheme, households must be identified as having a low income, high energy costs and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E ,F or G for their property.

Cllr Whitby said: “These schemes would be aimed at low income households therefore helping some of the most vulnerable residents in the district.

“Increasing the energy efficiency of low-income households would help reduce energy bills and lift households out of fuel poverty for those that need the most assistance.

“The projects would reduce carbon emissions from homes, which would help support a reduction of Mansfield’s carbon footprint, and they would also support economic resilience by employing a local contractor to install the external wall insulation.”

These two schemes follow four previous government projects where the council successfully bid for over £2m in funding to retrofit external wall insulation and install loft and cavity wall insulation to over 200 low-income households across Mansfield. Most were privately owned properties and 35 were council homes.

The district was also chosen as one of 19 areas of the country to benefit from a government decarbonisation pilot project to help lower energy consumption in social housing.

Work has been carried out at three blocks of flats at Farnsfield Court and Shireoaks Court on the Bellamy estate, focusing on walls, roofs, floors, windows and doors, for strategies for ventilation, heating efficiency and cooling in the summer.

The work cost £720,000 with £360,000 coming from the government and the same amount funded by the council.