ELEVEN families in Steventon will enjoy a warmer winter after a housing association made their homes more fuel-efficient.

Sovereign Housing Association carried out improvements, such as installing cavity wall insulation and upgrading central heating, at the homes in School Close in November as part of a £3m regional campaign.

They are the first of 56 homes across Oxfordshire this year to have received upgrades, with the programme set to be completed by February.

The work is carried out based on assessments that determine how dated the properties are and the needs of the residents.

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The elderly, infirm and those with large families are targeted for improvements more quickly.

Nickii Ellis, 30, who lives in a rented property in the village with her husband Paul and three children, had cavity wall insulation put in by Sovereign.

She said: “We’ve had problems with the house being very cold and high electricity and gas bills ever since we moved into the property in 2011.

“I hope the work will cut our bills and the money we save can be put towards a badly needed new car.

“Once the house is warmer, we want to redecorate and enjoy our home. It will be a new start for us all.”

The Energy Saving Trust estimates residents can save £300 per year from such improvements, although Sovereign said it needed to monitor the impact of the changes before releasing a figure.

Improvements lined up for homes include external wall insulation, and heating improvements, such as upgrading gas central heating or installing air source heat pumps.

Mark Lewis, who leads Sovereign’s Warmer Homes project, said: “We are targeting those homes where we can have the greatest impact – those that are worst performing with regards to fuel efficiency and those that contain vulnerable residents or those at greatest risk of fuel poverty.

“Surveys we have done with our residents have shown that having a warm home is one of their highest priorities.

“With these improvements, we are aiming to make their homes warmer but also more efficient, potentially saving them hundreds of pounds a year.”

Oxford Mail:

Plasterer Karl Hooper, who works for Sovereign contractor A&M Energy, completing a job at School Close, Steventon

This is the second year Sovereign Housing Association has targeted households as part of its Warmer Homes project.

Improvements were made in Wantage last year.

Sovereign is spending £3m on carrying out physical improvements to more than 300 homes across its operating area in the South and South West of England this winter.

Sovereign, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, owns and manages more than 37,500 homes.

Vale of White Horse District Council states on its website nearly 25 per cent of the CO2 produced in the UK comes from the energy used in the home, and says families can save £300 from their annual energy bills by making energy-saving improvements.

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