SGN Dorset Help for Warmth

Launched October 2024, working in partnership SGN and Ridgewater Energy to bring together local councils, charitable, 3rd sector partners, the health sector, social housing providers and the private rented sector to tackle fuel poverty and introduce energy safeguards that help those most vulnerable maintain a safe and warm home. The partnership aims to build capacity support and access to high quality holistic home visits to get the full picture of any issues the resident is facing. This also allows for more high impact cross-referrals to other project and local partners. The objective of the partnership is to help a wider [...]

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Healthy Homes Dorset

Funded by BCP Council, Dorset Council and Public Health Dorset, and delivered by Ridgewater Energy. The scheme years 2021 to 2024, have seen the Healthy Homes Dorset scheme save residents a total of £1,022,664 on their annual household fuel bills, from energy saving measures installed. This was achieved by: Insulating 1,128 homes Installing 9 Air Source Heat Pumps Installing 4,467 Radiator Reflector Panels Installing 7,919 LED Lightbulbs Installing 28 First Time Central Heating Systems Installing 642 Remote Control Sockets Installing 31 Solar PV Projects Saving residents a total of £291,100 through Income Maximisation Along with installing many more measures and [...]

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Dorset Home Upgrade Grant

In October 2023, the Home Upgrade Grant was launched in Dorset, a government-funded scheme, which assisted 172 homeowners and landlords in enhancing their homes’ energy efficiency, resulting in: 67 Air Source Heat Pump installs 106 Solar PV installs 56 High Heat Retention Electric Storage Heaters installs 12 Park Home insulation installs 5 Cavity Wall insulation installs 21 Loft insulation installs 24 Ventilation installs This was managed by Ridgewater Energy on behalf of BCP Council and Dorset Council. The scheme provided various packages of retrofit improvements to households throughout Dorset. These included cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, air source heat pumps, [...]

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Helping landlords reach Minimum Energy Efficient Standards

Helping landlords reach Minimum Energy Efficient Standards Location – St Catherines Parade, Christchurch. We were asked by the managing agent and leaseholder of this maisonette to help them get the EPC rating of the property up to an E or above, as it was a G rating and soon it would become unlawful to let without improvements. Firstly we carried out a survey to determine which measures might be possible, before arranging technical surveys for cavity wall, loft, room in roof insulation and central heating. In order to ensure we got the best value for the owners of the building, [...]

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Peter saves £370 a year from his Green Home Improvements!

Peter’s fixed rate mortgage came up for renewal in July 2019, as part of the process of investigating new rates for the remortgage, he was also keen to make further energy efficiency improvments to his home. Peter firstly spoke with his local mortgage broker ‘Cherry Mortgage and Finance’ to determine which lenders might look favourably on borrowers looking to make green upgrades. Due to the brokers experience looking at similar cases, he knew which lenders to approach first and who could offer their best rates for additional borrowing. The Measures Once a lender was identified, Peter started obtaining quotes for [...]

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What if I don’t comply with MEES?

Check if your property is affected If a landlord fails to comply with the new MEES regulations, they risk a financial penalty. The penalties depend on the length of the breach: Less than three months in breach:A landlord renting out a non-compliant property may be fined up to £5,000 or 10% of the rateable value (whichever is greater), capped at £50,000. Three months or more in breach:A landlord may be fined up to £10,000 or 20% of the rateable value (whichever is greater), capped at £150,000. Other fines:A fine of up to £5,000 may be issued for providing false or [...]

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