Our environmental work in Burneside

Earlier this year, we announced that we were investing £5.85 million in our homes to improve the energy efficiency of some of our homes. 

​With the £3.5 million grant from Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, we are investing over £5.85 million to help make more than 400 tenants' homes greener and more sustainable. 

This funding has come from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which we have accessed through our strategic partner Liverpool City Region and Combined Authority. 

Our most recent work continues on from wave two of the funding, allocated last year, where we have made improvements to 24 homes in Burneside, Cumbria. These were identified as needing improvements as their EPC energy rating was below C. 

Alex Forman, Environmental Sustainability Manager, said: “The properties were all built in the early 1900s and had an energy rating of below C. We have added external wall insulation, solar panels to roofs, installed new doors and windows along with an air source heat pump, as part of our ventilation strategy. 

“This has been partly funded by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The work is essential to improve energy efficiency and performance of the buildings to make them more comfortable and warmer for tenants. Through this work, we hope to reduce the running costs for tenants.” 

Social value 

As part of our social value commitment, our contractor Sureserve improved the communal garden area by installing benches, fences and a washing line for tenants. 

Alex added: “The communal garden area was re-landscaped and fenced off as part of the social value aspect of our contract. This particularly benefits the local community and creates a safe space for children to play.”  

Kate Hudson, Head of Strategic Asset Management, said: “These properties in Burneside have been homes for nearly 100 years and it is very important to us that we can maintain them so that they are good quality homes for another 100 years. 

As a social housing landlord we provide affordable homes and it is important to us that it is not just about low-cost rents. Applying these measures to make them more efficient will save money for tenants in the long term and hopefully for future generations.” 

We will now continue to deliver projects on properties with an EPC of below C using wave 3 of the funding which was allocated earlier this year.