We will be investing over £1.3 million to improve the energy efficiency of over 90 of our homes in Lancashire and Cumbria with the help of a government grant worth £665,484.

We are part of the Cumbrian Social Housing Consortium, led by the Eden District Council and includes Eden Housing Association, South Lakes Housing Association, Westfield Housing Association and Lune Valley Rural Housing Association. And the Lancashire Social Housing Consortium, led by the Blackpool Council with Onward Homes and Lancaster City Council. Both consortiums have been awarded a combined grant value of £7.7 million.

Jacqui De-Rose, Group Chief Executive of Progress Housing Group, said: “We are very pleased to receive this significant funding with our Cumbrian and Lancashire-based consortium partners.

Moving ahead with our environmental sustainability work and decarbonising our homes is high on our agenda. Our environmental strategy and net carbon zero road map set out our plans to help the climate crisis whilst continuing to ensure that our tenants and customers have affordable, safe, warm and environmentally-sustainable homes."

The consortiums bid for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Social Housing Decarbonisation Funding to support their efforts in tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions. Under the scheme, registered housing providers will contribute at least half of the costs and receive the other half as match funding.

The grant will support registered housing providers in upgrading their properties to an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C and a heating requirement of less than 90kwh/m2. We will be using the funding on energy efficiency measures on hard-to-treat properties that can’t be improved by methods such as cavity walls or loft insulation.

Eligible households will be contacted in the coming weeks with details of the scheme. The project will run until April 2025.