New council homes set to be built in Swansea will now benefit from innovative energy saving design and features.Swansea Council has successfully bid for £1.5million of funding from the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme (IHP), which will be used to install a series of innovative features such as solar panels and battery storage.
The funding is part of a £43million package spread across Wales aimed at providing housing that will generate its own energy and help tackle fuel poverty.
The Council approved plans in the summer to develop 16 new homes at Parc Yr Helyg in Birchgrove. The new ‘Swansea Standard’ homes can now be developed as Homes as Power Stations thanks to the IHP funding settlement from the WG.
Homes as Power Stations features as one of the strands of the £1.3 billion Swansea Bay City Deal.
Andrea Lewis, Cabinet Member for Homes and Energy, said: “This is fantastic news that we have been successful in acquiring this funding. We already have plans in place to build and create new council homes for families in Swansea.
“This additional investment will allow us to develop these homes, adding in all the necessary features they need to be the most energy efficient and innovative homes currently being developed in the country.
“This means that families moving into these properties when they are completed will benefit from cheaper fuel bills.
“One of the Council’s aims is to help families in Swansea by tackling fuel poverty and this will do exactly that.”
The Council recently completed the first phase of council homes at Colliers Way, near Blaenymaes. The 18 new ‘Passivhaus’ designed properties were built to specific design and standard, in a bid to create energy efficient homes which require less heating than traditional homes.
The IHP funding will also be used when the second phase of Colliers Way gets underway.
Contracts have also recently been agreed for the installation of new kitchens and bathrooms at 5,500 existing council properties between now and 2020.
Cllr Lewis added: “Thousands of tenants have already benefitted from this ongoing investment in our housing stock. We’re fully committed to meeting the Wales Housing Quality Standard so that all council tenants can live in good quality accommodation.”