£195m secured to improve council housing in the capital

The largest tranche of this funding, £145m, will be distributed to London boroughs to bring homes up to Decent Home standards, while a further £50m will will be allocated specifically to improve the energy efficiency of more than 175,000 homes in the capital by 2017. Capita has been contracted to deliver these carbon reducing renovations, which could save residents up to £180 a year on their energy bills.  

Properties will be given a range of cost effective measures including boiler upgrades, insulation and heating upgrades. Support is expected to initially focus on large landlords, predominantly stock-owning London boroughs and housing associations, but will also aim to support environmental retrofit activity on a much wider scale.

The Mayor’s Office hopes to save 93,000 annual tonnes of carbon with the three year retrofit programme, and have a new delivery team in place thanks to funding by the European Local Energy Assistance Fund. 

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "This vital Decent Homes investment will enable us to help boroughs transform some of the poorest quality council estates and social housing in need of urgent repair.  

“Many families are also rightly concerned at the cost of their energy bills so I’m delighted to be able to put in place a programme of energy-saving measures for homes across the capital. This will result in renovations that lower energy bills for thousands of residents."

Commenting on the £50 energy efficiency fund, John Alker, Director of Policy and Communications at the UK Green Building Council, said: “With rising energy bills sure to be hitting the headlines over the coming months, energy efficiency is by far the most cost effective way to permanently bring them down. This funding will help hard-pressed Londoners this winter and is a welcome boost for the capital’s green housing ambitions.”

11 August 2014