Changeworks has partnered with Fife Council for many years. During that time, we have installed around 3,000 energy efficient measures and invested £16m into privately owned homes.
This work has included the Scottish Government-funded Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme (EES: ABS), which has helped homeowners and social tenants to make their homes warmer and lower their energy bills, as well as enable Fife Council to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock.
Fife had been aware of an area of timber homes in Lumphinnans which were in need of work to make them more energy efficient for the occupants, who were a mix of council tenants and private owners.
The council asked Changeworks support them in their bid for EES: ABS funding, and once it was awarded, we assisted Fife to find a contractor to carry out the improvement work.
What was the project?
The project began with work on the council owned properties. However, on removal of the outer cladding of several properties, the contractor discovered extensive rot damage to sections of the timber frames. This required careful investigation and planning to replace prior to starting the originally planned insulation works.
This discovery meant there was a significant delay to the work being completed, incurring additional costs for Fife. However, this didn’t stop all 16 council-owned properties being fitted with new insulation and the work being completed.
What happened next?
Following the completion of work on Fife Council’s properties, work then began on insulating the homes of the 20 private owners who showed interested in the improvement works.
After the discovery of the rot damage on the original properties, the Scottish Government was able to provide additional funding to keep the cost of these works at an affordable level, despite the added costs of the potential rot repairs needed.
Changeworks is also working with Fife on plans to set up a new project to target other pockets of timber homes in the region that could significantly benefit from the home energy efficiency improvement.
What did householders say?
“The contractor work was first class we were informed on all work that was going on we are very pleased with the quality.”
“The heat in house is so much better, draughts and cold were something fierce before.”
“The house feels so much warmer now. I’m 81 years old, so I could never have arranged this sort of work by myself.”
David Jones, Project Manager at Changeworks, commented: “By working closely with Fife Council and the Scottish Government, we were able to overcome unexpected challenges and ensure households in Lumphinnans could benefit from warmer, more energy-efficient homes.
“It’s particularly rewarding to know that residents are already feeling the difference, with improved comfort and fewer draughts. We look forward to building on this success and helping even more households across Fife and Scotland reduce energy costs and enjoy healthier, warmer homes in the future.”