Transforming homes for South Lakes Housing

Sureserve are transforming homes for a sustainable future

Dyson Energy Services, part of Sureserve, has worked in partnership with South Lakes Housing to successfully complete the first year of a transformative project to enhance the energy efficiency of 367 homes in Cumbria.

EPC rating of C

The project is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 2.1. The SHDF provides 50% of funding towards increasing the energy efficiency of the homes, to bring homes up to an EPC rating of C and to reduce their space heating demand, meaning warmer homes which are cheaper to heat.

Working towards Net Zero

This initiative is part of a national effort to increase the energy efficiency of social housing and reduce its carbon footprint, contributing towards the Government targets of EPC C by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

South Lakes Housing was awarded £3.6m of funding from the Government’s SHDF to enhance a total of 905 existing properties over a two-year period as part of its Warmer Greener Homes campaign. A further £3.6m is being funded by South Lakes Housing and will form part of a total investment in energy efficiency in their existing homes over two years of around £8million.

Lower bills, healthier homes

In the first year alone, 367 homes were equipped with, on average £9,000 of energy-saving improvements into each home. These enhancements have resulted in lower energy bills for around 1,000 residents, and warmer, more comfortable, better-ventilated living spaces, promoting residents' health and well-being.

Exceeding targets

Richard Hayes, Director of Homes at South Lakes Housing, expressed his satisfaction: “We are delighted to have successfully achieved and exceeded our delivery target in the first year of such an important project, working closely with Dyson Energy Services and Everwarm, both part of Sureserve. Increasing the energy efficiency performance of our homes, five years ahead of legislation, is a key achievement in our goal as a sustainable social landlord, providing warmer and more affordable homes for our customers to live in.”

The upgrades, primarily focused on homes in Kendal, Milnthorpe, and Sedbergh, include a variety of measures installed by Dyson, such as solar PV systems, cavity wall and loft insulation, and energy-efficient lighting. All retrofitting complies with PAS 2035 standards. In total, 535 energy-saving measures have been installed into 367 households, including:

• 347 solar PV systems 
• 181 cavity wall insulation upgrades
• 4 loft space insulation upgrades
• 345 additional ventilation measures to improve air quality

Benefiting the residents

Residents have already noticed significant benefits. A resident in Sedbergh reported, “I only need to top up my payment card once a week now, instead of twice.” Another commented, “The new cavity wall insulation has made a big impact in keeping my home warmer.”

Michael Morrall of Dyson highlighted the collaborative effort: “Reaching this milestone and exceeding the target just one year into our retrofit programme is a tremendous achievement. The collaborative partnership with South Lakes Housing and immense efforts and time taken to develop effective data insight, has been instrumental in the streamlining of delivery of this SHDF project. The team are delighted that 367 South Lakes households are now feeling the benefits of energy efficiency upgrades. We look forward to continuing the excellent work and helping many more residents in year two of the programme to March 2025, on our joined-up mission to deliver upgrades to 905 homes in total.”

The project is well on track to complete the remaining homes by September 2025.

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