Some of the capital’s council estates are in need of urgent repair to improve the homes and lives of thousands of residents living in non-decent properties. To address this, the Mayor has secured £145 million of government ‘Decent Homes Funding’ that will be distributed to London boroughs to bring homes back to good standards.
In addition, over 175,000 homes will benefit from carbon-reducing renovations that could save residents up to £180 annually on energy bills. The Mayor’s Office has contracted Capita to a £3 million contract to support the delivery of energy-saving improvements worth at least £50 million, to homes by 2017.
“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," Johnson said.
“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,“ he added
Retrofitting is vital in reducing CO2 emissions with 36 per cent of London’s CO2 emissions produced by housing.
The Mayor’s Office hope 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. 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 the team will also be aiming to support environmental retrofit activity on a much wider scale.
Starting today boroughs are invited to bid for Decent Homes Funding, the new £145 million fund is in addition to the £821 million share of the Decent Homes programme, agreed with the government and committed to 14 boroughs during 2011-15 to help transform social housing in the worst conditions. As part of the bidding process each borough will be required to review the potential for additional building of homes on their estates.
This funding will put each eligible borough landlord in a position to deal with the maintenance and repair of their stock independently from 2016/17. Bidding closes 19th September 2014 with announcements of successful borough landlords in early November 2014.
In response to Johnson's announcement 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.”
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