Council secures £2.2m to reduce East Lindsey’s carbon footprint and help address fuel poverty

East Lindsey District Council has secured £2.2million to assist homeowners and landlords to make improvements to the energy efficiency of their properties.
Pilot scheme will initially focus on properties in Skegness and Mablethorpe.Pilot scheme will initially focus on properties in Skegness and Mablethorpe.
Pilot scheme will initially focus on properties in Skegness and Mablethorpe.

The funding, from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), is part of the Government’s Green Home Grants.

It will be used by the Council’s Climate Change Team to establish a pilot scheme which aims to address fuel poverty issues and reduce the area’s Carbon Footprint, through more energy efficient homes.

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The pilot scheme will initially focus on properties in Skegness and Mablethorpe, with the Council looking to improve the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of 300 properties across both areas by September 2021. The Team will be looking to target properties that currently have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of E, F or G and hope to work with the owners of these properties to improve the rating to D or above.

The Council will work alongside a team of qualified energy assessors to identify the most energy efficient improvements for each property, but typical improvement works are likely to include external wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, floor, and loft insulation. Grants of up to £10,000 will be available to owner-occupiers and up to £5,000 to landlords – with landlords being required to fund one third of the cost of works themselves.

Within their recently published Environment Policy and Carbon Reduction Plan, the District Council identified a target aim of reducing their own emissions to net zero by 2040, alongside this they also made a commitment to act as a leader in carbon reduction in the District; this pilot scheme will help the Council build on that commitment, working with residents to reduce their carbon emissions and to better understand how they can achieve greater energy efficiency in their properties.

Coun Graham Marsh, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, said: “We have a clear commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and to helping others in East Lindsey understand how they can do the same, so I’m very pleased to have been awarded this funding and to have been given the opportunity to bring this scheme forwards.”

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Coun Wendy Bowkett, Portfolio Holder for Communities, added: “Living in cold, energy inefficient properties can have serious implications for both your physical and mental health, especially if you are worrying whether or not you can afford to heat your home. Through this scheme we will not only be able to provide residents with properties that are more pleasant to live in but also, by working to make properties more energy efficient, residents will see the benefit of them being more affordable to live in.”

It is hoped that further funding will be released by Government later in the year to expand the scheme across the District.

Further details of how to apply will be published when the scheme opens later this month. Those wishing to learn more before then can email [email protected]