Working with nine of its partners, Mears supported them to secure funding in March to carry out work across their homes including improving insulation and ventilation, upgrading windows, doors, and cladding, and installing solar panels on roofs.
The projected savings on energy bills over a year could exceed £1 million and will reduce carbon emissions by around 1,300 tonnes. The projects will create or sustain up to 350 jobs, with the roles providing an opportunity for the development of green skills across the workforce and the wider local supply chain.
Currently all nine schemes are undergoing a retrofit assessment by Mears, which will define the energy efficiency measures to be delivered across the homes within the project. In autumn, work is set to get underway on the first project, where Mears Group is working with London Borough of Islington to upgrade 314 homes. Work on the other eight projects is due to start in winter 2023.
Colin Middlemass, Mears Group’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are really pleased with the progress made across the SHDF projects, and want to pay tribute to our fantastic clients who are working to upgrade their housing stock, making it fit for the future and improving these homes for their tenants and residents.
“With a real need across the UK to retrofit housing to ensure tenants and residents are living in warm and affordable homes, we are seeing this becoming a key part of our business. In response to this, we acquired IRT last year to add further expertise in retrofit stock modelling and thermal imaging, as we saw the need to combine this technology with our knowledge and expertise, to grow our offering in this space and create a practical solution for our clients, to the challenge of upgrading the energy efficiency of the nations’ housing stock.
“Our work with our clients on SHDF schemes shows that this is an area we can deliver in, and we look forward to bringing real benefits to tenants and residents and supporting the wider vision across the UK to meet net zero.”
Mears Group’s support for clients to achieve success in securing funding in the second round of the SHDF follows its work to support clients to secure £5.8m of Wave 1 funding to upgrade 471 homes across three projects in 2022.
Work is currently ongoing to deliver this phase of the works in partnership with Crawley Homes and Milton Keynes Council. Installations are now complete on the Livin Housing project with 108 homes upgraded.
The SHDF is awarded by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to support projects to improve the energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of social housing to a minimum EPC band C. The funding aims to reduce fuel stress, reduce carbon emissions, support the green economy through employment opportunities, and improve tenants’ comfort, health, and wellbeing.
ENDS
About Mears Group
With more than 5,500 employees, Mears Group works with clients to help develop, fund, and implement innovative solutions. We are a highly responsible partner, who is committed to delivering the highest levels of customer service; keeping our promises; creating a great place to work and tackling issues that matter to people and communities.
