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An additional £1.9m is to be made available to Perth and Kinross Council to help extend a programme of energy-saving home insulation measures.
The announcement comes as Housing Minister Margaret Burgess visited Perth to view an innovative home energy efficiency programme being undertaken by the local authority and energy supplier SSE.
The scheme in Hillyland will see 159 'hard-to-treat' houses in the area fitted with externally applied wall insulation. Initially, benefitting 119 council tenants and 40 home-owners, the offer is now being extended to a further 88 homeowners.
The project will also see the council's 389 timber-frames homes in North Muirton fitted with external insulation cladding, and around 300 private homeowners are expected to take up the offer.
The multi-million pound insulation work will substantially cut the energy bills of households who take part, and also help to reduce the carbon footprint of local residents.
The initiative is a partnership by the council under the Scottish Government's Home Energy Efficiency Programmes Area Based Schemes (HEEPS-ABS) and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
In June, a bid for HEEPS-ABS funding of £1,216,881 was announced by the Scottish Government. It was awarded on the basis that the council had also secured ECO funding from SSE to help pay for insulation measures to privately owned and privately rented houses as well as the council's own housing stock. Now, the additional £1.9m will help more homes benefit.
Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said: "Basic energy efficiency measures can make a huge difference to families in Perth and Kinross who are struggling to make ends meet, allowing them to heat their homes more cost effectively.
"Today's funding will see hundreds of homes across the council area receive new measures like solid wall insulation – helping to drive down the number of people struggling to pay their fuel bills. This further investment will also help to generate work and support jobs, providing a much needed boost to the local economy."
(JP/IT)
