Photographed: Robin Brown, Area Business Customer Delivery Manager, P H Jones and Sophie Davies Housing Business and Customer Improvement Manager, East Devon District Council
Photographed: Robin Brown, Area Business Customer Delivery Manager, P H Jones and Sophie Davies Housing Business and Customer Improvement Manager, East Devon District Council

More than 100 East Devon council homes are now more eco-friendly thanks to a special project that helped them upgrade their insulation, heating systems and much more.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) has been running a Green Homes Grant programme since 2020 – the Government scheme is designed to help councils fund the cost of reducing the carbon footprint and environmental impact of its housing.

The project has also allowed residents on low incomes to save energy significantly lower their utility bills.

EDDC has now installed a variety sustainable, eco-friendly technologies into the homes involved in this project - including air source heat pumps, solar panels, new radiators and pipework, upgraded insulation, smart controls, and intelligent hot water cylinders that harvest surplus energy generated by solar panels and store it as hot water.

One resident, from Whitford, said:

I now have a problem – I have too many jumpers! My house is lovely and warm, thank you.

An vulnerable Uplyme resident added:

Thank you so much, the new heating has helped us so much, we are so comfortable and we have already seen a reduction in our electric bill.

The authority is now looking forward to progressing this further and enabling residents to see the benefits that this scheme will have on daily life.

The project has been planned and carried out thanks to the help of P H Jones, with the support of engineers, electricians and managers from British Gas.

P H Jones carried out works to 84 houses and bungalows across the district, which all had their solid fuel heating and immersion systems replaced with low carbon alternatives.

Councillor Megan Armstrong, EDDC’s portfolio holder for sustainable homes and communities, said:

The health and wellbeing of residents is one of EDDC’s top priorities and this additional funding has helped EDDC to ensure their homes are the lowest EPC (energy efficiency grade) rated homes.

This grant has improved the lives of many of our residents in East Devon, by lowering energy bills and keeping costs down in the long term, which is one of our aims in the council’s Poverty Strategy.

Not only has it helped our residents in their homes, it has also allowed EDDC to keep on lowering the district’s carbon emissions, ultimately reducing our environmental impact alongside our climate change agenda.