Lewisham secures nearly £3 million to retrofit council homes
Lewisham Council has successfully bid for £2.98m of funding from the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) to retrofit 159 council homes in the borough.
The money will be used to carry out energy efficiency improvements to existing council homes, as part of a £9m planned programme of housing retrofit works across the borough.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced the recipients of Wave 2.1 of the SHDF this week.
By improving the energy efficiency of older buildings, retrofitting aims to reduce energy consumption, resulting in lower carbon emissions and cheaper energy bills. As well as providing residents with warmer homes, this helps to reduce fuel poverty and tackle the Climate Emergency.
Cllr Louise Krupski, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Action, said:
“I am delighted that we have secured this funding from the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. Retrofitting our council housing stock is a core part of our work to tackle the Climate Emergency and help the borough reach net-zero by 2030. As well as reducing carbon emissions, this work will provide warmer, more energy efficient homes for council tenants, helping to reduce fuel poverty in the borough.”
Tackling the Climate Emergency
Having been one of the first local authorities in London to declare a Climate Emergency, Lewisham Council launched its Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2020. As well as taking action to retrofit existing council buildings, including schools, offices and housing estates, the Council’s work to tackle the Climate Emergency has included planting hundreds of new street trees, installing more than 150 electric vehicle charging points and introducing 48 School Streets to improve air quality and encourage more people to walk and cycle to school.