We are urging as many landlords and agents to act now to ensure all their properties are up to a decent standard of energy efficiency so that this can be reflected on the Energy Performance Certificate which most rental properties will require under new tenancies from October. If the funding is not spent then it may be reduced, and with the possibility of insulation becoming compulsory in 2011, the likelyhood is that there will be no grants and costs of installation will increase significantly. (Please note insulation becoming compulsory is just one idea being discussed by Government and may not come into force)

 

 

Project History

In early 2004, Dorset Energy Advice Centre (DEAC) were looking at potential energy efficiency projects within Dorset. Our project management team were interested in targeting a ward in the county which was high up on the Governments indices of deprivation, and which would benefit the most from measures to reduce fuel debt, fuel poverty, and to create improved conditions for affordable warmth.

On investigation we found that the wards of Boscombe West, Springbourne, and Wallisdown were amongst the most deprived in the county. A decision was taken to target Boscombe West and Springbourne primarily based on the size of the ward and the type and tenure of the properties in the area, along with what is perceived to be the area with the most social deprivation.

Boscombe West and Springbourne have its own Neighbourhood Management (NM) office which is part of the Governments Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, and is part funded by Government and Bournemouth Borough Council (BBC) to assist in regeneration of the area, it is charged with several areas of responsibility including housing, environmental health and other social issues.

As a starting point the project management team at DEAC wanted to focus a feasibility study (phase 1) on energy debt, fuel payment methods, and barriers to affordable warmth within the ward. We sourced funding to survey around 900 residents in the ward, to extract the necessary data.

The study showed us that a vast number of properties in the ward, some 61% were privately rented properties, and a great many were Houses of multiple occupation (HMO). These were found to be properties that were least likely to have energy efficiency measures applied to them, because of the high capital costs to the landlords and tenants of installing measures such as cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, double glazing and gas central heating.

Existing grants for insulation measures are available through Energy Efficiency Commitment grants (EEC) and through the Governments Warmfront grant, although these often fall some way short of addressing the unique issues
involved with HMO properties. The EEC grants may provide part funding to carry out cavity wall or loft insulation although there is then the issue of who pays for the client contribution. The tenant is usually not willing to pay as they do not own the property, and may only be there for a short period of time, and the landlord does not live in the property and is often spending his money on other more pressing work involved with fire safety regulations and essential maintenance of the building.

The Warmfront grant and EEC priority group funding are able to fund 100% of the cost of insulation but only for people on qualifying state benefits and allowances, in HMO properties it is rare that everybody in the building is on benefit, and if they are by the time the application process and assessment is complete the tenant may have moved out.

Based on these barriers to insulation, we decided that a fully funded insulation project focused on HMO properties in the private rented sector would be a very worthwhile and effective way of addressing many of the issues of fuel poverty, fuel debt, affordable warmth and energy efficiency in the area.

DEAC had a long standing relationship with the then Dorset Residential Landlords Association (DRLA) which is now the National Landlords Association Dorset Branch (NLA). They had been keen to find a way to fund energy efficiency measures for some time within private rented properties, but had been frustrated by the lack of flexibility in the existing grant mechanisms.

DEAC spoke to Bournemouth Borough Council about the possibility of a project in Boscombe West and Springbourne which would sweep through properties in the private rented sector, installing insulation into HMO and other multi-let properties, using EEC grants to fund the majority of the cost and using some of the Councils funding to pay for the client contribution under the scheme. The Council agreed to allow us to submit a proposal for their consideration.

A proposal was submitted outlining the benefits of the proposed works and the associated costs to the borough. The proposed number of properties to be insulated under what would be phase 2 of the project was 700 dwellings (flats, bed sits, letting rooms).

The proposal was accepted and the project commenced the installation of insulation works in May 2005. DEAC targeted the landlords with the most properties initially. The landlords were contacted and surveys were carried out to assess suitability for insulation works, and information was collated by DEAC for the purposes of HEC (Home Energy Check) data collection.

Having overcome some difficult issues regarding access, height of buildings, and parking restrictions we were able to complete the insulation to over 700 dwellings for cavity wall insulation, and also completed several loft insulation jobs, gave away over 3000 low energy light bulbs, and several hot water tank jackets, carbon monoxide detectors and cold alarms. We also sign posted several tenants to Warmfront grants for heating works, and issued energy and condensation advice leaflets to tenants. This phase was completed in January 2006.

We were able to move forward with the project into Phase 3, and to get agreement from over 300 landlords, letting agents, management companies and charities to complete insulation works on their properties.

It became clear toward the end of the project that we could exceed the total number of dwellings receiving the measures, due to the momentum the project had built up, and the success it had enjoyed to date.

We approached Bournemouth Borough Council to fund some additional measures above and beyond those promised under phase 3. We called this phase 4 and this was completed on 20th March 2007. This was able to install measures into a further 300 dwellings on top of the agreed 2500.

Phase 5 is now completed and had installed a further 1280 dwellings by the end of the financial year 2007/08, for another 200 landlords.

 

This year we are on target to insulate over 2000 dwellings in Bournemouth.

Dorset Energy Advice Centre has also been working with Poole Borough Council during the 2007/2008 financial year and we have completed around 400 dwellings in this time. The scheme in Poole is not continuing at this time. However we are still working with landlords in Poole to offer them the best prices available for their insulation requirements, and will have helped another 100 or more rented dwellings here to be insulated.

If you are a landlord, letting agent or tenant in Bournemouth please contact us for more information on the scheme – yes it is free and there are no catches so pick up the phone and get in touch while the funding is still available. 

We are keen to roll the project out in other areas of Dorset and beyond, and would welcome any enquiries from other local authorities who wish to set up a similar scheme with us.