A multi million pound grant has been awarded to Somerset West and Taunton Council to make its council homes more energy efficient.

SWT has been awarded £2.5 million in grant funding to deliver what it says is £5 million worth of energy efficiency measures.

The money had been provided by the government's Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which aims to upgrade social housing stock which rates lower than 'C' on their energy performance certificates.

Jon Rattenbury, Programme Manager for the South West Net Zero Hub, said: “This is fantastic news for households in the south west and it takes us a step closer to achieving the region’s net zero targets.  

"We look forward to working with our partners to deliver sustainable home upgrades that will make homes warmer and address fuel poverty.”

A spokesperson for SWT said: “This is very exciting news and most rewarding given our climate change commitment to move towards zero carbon homes.

“These grants, combined with the funding we’ve set aside, will allow many more of our council homes to receive insulation, renewable heat, and power, thereby making a huge difference to the quality of tenants’ homes, as well as helping to reduce household energy bills.  

"It will also help us to attain ‘C’ rated Energy Performance Certificates at a minimum for all our homes by 2030, and we’ve set higher standards and targets for 2040 and 2050.”