Fuel-poverty champs win national honour

At the awards (l-r): Keepmoat senior resident liaison officer Liz McCloskey, Oldham Council’s Angela Broadhurst, Keepmoat contracts manager Terry Hannon, Keepmoat operations manager Ian Stone and Sir Ranulph Fiennes

A PIONEERING housing scheme that has lifted more than 1,000 Oldham people out of fuel poverty has won a prestigious national award.

Warm Homes Oldham has won the Partnership of the Year accolade at the Sustainable Housing Awards in London, hosted by world-famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Warm Homes Oldham was set up to help households struggling with rising energy bills — and to reduce the physical and mental-health problems associated with poorly heated and poorly-insulated homes.

In its first year the scheme lifted 439 households — home to 1,079 people — out of fuel poverty, defined as those spending more than 10 per cent of their income on energy bills.

Established by Oldham Council, Oldham NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and Oldham Housing Investment Partnership, the scheme is the first to bring together a local authority and health and housing bodies to tackles issues around fuel poverty and health.

Warm Homes offers eligible residents grants to fit new gas boilers and have their properties insulated without cost by Warm Homes building partner, Keepmoat.

In announcing the award, judges at the Sustainable Housing Awards, said: “This entry has the potential to be really exciting. It has tackled an area others have struggled to address and established a ground-breaking partnership with the NHS.”

Keepmoat’s sustainability director Nigel Banks said Warm Homes Oldham was one of the most exciting schemes the company has ever been involved in. Mr Banks, who was also nominated for Social Housing Champion of the Year at the awards, said: “Warm Homes Oldham is a truly ground-breaking scheme which could become a template for hundreds of other schemes in the country. Lifting 1,000 people out of fuel poverty in one year in a single borough is a fantastic achievement.”