£3.2 million boost for council homes

Only 12% of the cost will have to be met by the Council's housing account.

Ipswich Borough Council, in partnership with the Keepmoat Group, had put in a bid for Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding to provide external wall insulation for 384 properties that have either solid walls or cavity walls that cannot be filled. The two-year programme will reduce carbon emissions and reduce fuel bills for tenants, keeping properties warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

Energy companies must provide ECO funds to meet specific carbon reduction and energy savings targets. ECO is in its infancy and Ipswich is one of the first bids to be submitted and agreed.

The Borough Council has already successfully completed two programmes of external wall insulation to council homes under the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP).

Councillor John Mowles, Housing portfolio-holder, said: "This is great news for the council and for tenants. The success of our bid is a boost to reducing carbon emissions, will enable us to improve our 'hard-to-heat homes much sooner than would otherwise have been the case, and will be a much welcome saving to tenants on their energy bills at this time of rising costs."