Private homeowners across Birmingham are to get their properties surveyed free of charge by the city council. The survey will focus on energy efficiency and insulation in order to reduce the carbon footprint.
Almost 2,000 houses chosen at random will be inspected over the next three months. The survey will help homeowners determine whether they need to carry out energy efficient home improvements such as fitting uPVC windows.
The exercise aims to assess the state of privately owned houses and work out how they rate against the government’s decent homes standard. The survey will therefore focus on energy efficiency.
Housing bosses say they are keen to provide assistance to improve conditions in the private sector having already invested over £600 million to improve 65,000 council houses with central heating, uPVC windows and new kitchens.
Coun John Lines, cabinet member for housing said: “This survey is crucial for us to be able to gather essential information which will help us further improve conditions in the private sector, especially at a time when government funding for private sector renewal is reducing.”
“We have already tackled key issues in the private sector, whether it’s reducing the number of empty properties in the city to an all time low, or prosecuting private landlords who fail to comply with their legal obligations. We have also issued recommendations such as fitting uPVC windows or cavity wall insulation to improve the properties energy efficiency.”
“We remain committed to helping our most vulnerable home owners get the support and assistance they need to live in warm, energy efficient homes with modern facilities such as uPVC windows and energy efficient wall insulation.”
Publish our Green issues articles on your own site!
All our Green issues articles are available for republishing, provided the links in the content remain intact. You can also use our RSS news feed to republish all of our Green issues articles.
News
Noise reduction