A group of a dozen social landlords and four local authorities all with an interest in landlord insurance started a joint project to retrofit 100,000 homes in the Merseyside area. Project Viridis is being co-ordinated by LMH (Liverpool Mutual Homes) and is estimated to be worth in the region of £50bn to the economy of the city.
Project Viridis’ aim is to insulate the properties in order to help meet an 80% greenhouse gas reduction target by 2050 as well as reducing fuel poverty which is expected to get worse in the future. Project managers of the scheme believe at least two thirds of the properties will be suitable for PV panels and they hope to use the Coalition’s Green Deal to install thousands of solar panels on accommodation after the government recently announced that the scheme could be used to fund the technology.
Steve Coffey, LMH chief executive, said “The Liverpool city region retro-fit market is estimated to be in the region of £50bn, which will provide a massive boost for the people and businesses in Merseyside in so many ways. The scheme will directly help reduce fuel poverty for tenants and carbon emissions for landlords. Social housing is far more advanced than the private sector in terms of retro-fitting and as a result we have the experience and delivery processes in place to install the latest and greenest products available very efficiently.”
The first phase of the project will focus on the installation of photovoltaic panels to capitalise on the higher FIT rates available until the end of March next year. Phase two will address a full suite of retrofit options in respect of member organisations’ stock. The landlord’s and local authorities are also looking at whether a relationship with a major utility company is possible as the consortium want to maximise the possibilities of the scheme.