THE City of Edinburgh Council has announced it is to improve the energy efficiency of more than 1,000 homes in the capital this coming year.
It comes thanks to £5 million of Scottish Government funding, which looks to help create warmer, more secure homes. It builds on the successes of previous projects delivered by the council and Changeworks, which has seen 734 homes receive energy upgrades in the last year.
The local authority said that the funding will ‘specifically target’ areas of fuel poverty and is only for private sector properties. Measures offered include external or internal wall insulation, as well as renewable technologies such as solar panels and battery storage.
Councillor Jane Meagher, housing, homelessness, and fair work convener at the City of Edinburgh Council, said, “With our residents facing the biggest cost of living crisis in decades, this is a welcome step which will help many homeowners lower their energy bills.
“The funding will be used to support people living in private residences to reduce emissions and heat loss from their homes, mirroring much of the work we are doing as a council to improve the fabric of hundreds of social homes. We all must become less reliant on high carbon fuel and make the transition to being more energy efficient, so that together we can face the climate emergency – and inflation – and become a net zero carbon city by 2030.”
Paul Thom, Changeworks’ technical director, added, “We’re delighted to be working in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council to deliver another year of EES:ABS projects. We’ve already achieved great results working together over the past 12 years and relish the opportunity to make many more homes more energy efficient, helping to reduce fuel poverty as a result. These projects are hugely important to the city and play a crucial role in helping Edinburgh reach a net-zero future.”
