Harrogate Borough Council is offering help to cover the cost of new efficient boilers and home insulation, to make local homes warmer, healthier – and more affordable to heat.
A scheme to help residents install loft and cavity wall insulation will be running throughout the winter and the council is encouraging people to get improvements done now, before the weather turns really cold.
Help is being focused on several council wards because studies show that many households in these areas may struggle to keep their homes warm and healthy during the winter months. The wards are:
- Granby
- High Harrogate
- Low Harrrogate
- New Park
- Saltergate
- Starbeck
- Woodfield
- Ripon Minster
Households with annual incomes between £20,000 and £35,000 could receive 75 percent towards the cost of loft and cavity wall insulation. And homeowners with annual incomes below £20,000 per year in these eight wards could be eligible for completely free improvements. There’s help available to landlords too if residents qualify.
In other parts of the district, residents with low incomes and high heating costs may also be able to receive help, so it’s worth calling to find out. The council is also offering interest-free loans for replacement gas boilers for homeowners with incomes below £20,000 per year.
The scheme is part of a programme funded by the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership. It’s being administered in North Yorkshire by City of York Council, and anyone interested in finding out more about the scheme can call them on 01904 552300.
Councillor Mike Chambers, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for Housing and Safer Communities, said:
Winter inevitably brings larger energy bills so it’s important that as many people as possible go into this year’s cold spell with improved insulation.
I know that some people in the district struggle to keep their homes comfortably and affordably warm in these cold months, and this can have serious health and financial consequences. We have the funding to help, and I want as many people as possible to benefit.
