At a ceremony last Thursday [18 December], SCDC’s chairman and Sawston District Councillor David Bard officially declared SCDC’s £1 million housing refurbishment project is now completed.
The South Cambridgeshire District Council scheme to improve the insulation and energy efficiency of 28 post-war prefab bungalows in Vicarage Avenue, Sawston, has seen Fosters Property Maintenance retrofit the three-bedroomed, metal Hawksley bungalows with external wall insulation, new roofs and solar panels, which supply tenants with free electricity during the day.
Each home has also benefited from loft insulation plus new double-glazed windows and front and back doors. The work has vastly improved the energy efficiency of the homes to one of the top ratings, meaning warmer homes and slashed energy bills for the bungalows’ tenants.
Adding solar panels for free daytime electricity is expected to save each household an average of £210 a year.
The project is part of a five-year Council investment programme to upgrade the insulation and improve the energy efficiency of its homes.
So far over 2,000 council properties have been fitted with solar panels through a project with Savills Solar and nearly 300 have been fitted with solid wall insulation by Fosters Property Maintenance.
David Bard, said: “This has been a great project, finished at just the right time of year for our tenants to benefit from a home that is easier and cheaper to heat.
"Well done to the Fosters team for carrying this work out to such a high standard and for bringing these much-loved homes into the 21st century.
"At SCDC we are absolutely committed to making our homes warmer and more comfortable to live in while at the same time cutting carbon emissions.”
The aluminium-clad, timber-framed Hawksley bungalows were built by aircraft builder A W Hawksley for the Ministry of Works after World War II, with a design lifespan of ten-years. Examples of the bungalows can still be found across the country.
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