Warm Homes Suffolk is a Suffolk wide Council partnership service, delivering energy efficiency support to low-income households affected by cost of living pressures.
Supported by Suffolk’s Collaborative Communities Board and funding from Public Health Suffolk’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF), the service is now able to offer specific help for households struggling to pay their energy bills via a pre-payment meter, in addition to its existing support.
The support covers the whole of Suffolk and is available for all residents, whether they are in social housing, council tenants, owner occupiers or private renters.
The Warm Homes Suffolk Service can check eligibility and support applications for grants to increase household energy efficiency, with measures such as loft and wall insulation to air source heat pumps, draught-proofing and more.
It is estimated that more than 24,000 people in Suffolk are pre-payment meter customers.
The service will work with each individual to understand the pressures on their finances and the impact this is having on their lives. The service can carry out a home visit, as well as providing advice over the phone and by email.
The COMF funding of £180,000 will enable this project to run for 12 months to provide the following:
- Income maximisation (through grants and benefits)
- Budgeting advice
- Help understanding bills and heating systems
- Support to reduce energy expenditure (By promoting social tariffs and support to switch suppliers)
- Improving household energy efficiency (By installing insulation, draught proofing, heating systems and solar panels)
- Facilitating switch away from prepaid meters if appropriate
