Energy Efficiency

Cheshire West and Chester Council is committed to improve the energy efficiency of housing in the area.

If you want to improve the energy efficiency of your home there are several subsidised schemes available to you.

Cheshire West Warm Zone

Warm Zone offers an independently evaluated programme to identify fuel-poor households in Cheshire West and Chester and improve energy efficiency.

Cheshire West Warm Zone will be the first Warm Zone in the North West and will offer loft and cavity wall insulation free to all residents in the borough.

Although the scheme is open to all residents of Cheshire West and Chester, the offer will be actively promoted in target areas initially and to certain groups of people in order to tackle the areas where levels of fuel poverty are highest.

The Offer

• Households in receipt of a qualifying benefit – free of charge
• Households aged 60 or over - free of charge.
• All other households - now free of charge for loft insulation and cavity wall insulation

To take advantage of this offer and to arrange a free no obligation survey, please call Cheshire West Warm Zone on 0800 033 7873.

You can find out more by visiting the Cheshire West Warm Zone website.

Warm Front

The Government also provides help to owner-occupiers and private rented tenants with heating your home through its Warm Front scheme.

For more information the Warm Front section of the Direct Gov website.

Cosy Loans

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester Council have joined together to offer interest free loans to homeowners and private landlords to help make their homes more energy efficient and to help to reduce fuel bills. The scheme is managed by Wirral Methodist Housing association on behalf of both councils.

The loan can be used to install one or more of the following energy efficiency measures in your home:

• Loft insulation
• Cavity wall insulation
• A central heating boiler
• Draughtproofing doors and windows (must be in conjunction with at least one of the above measures)
• Solar water heating

You can borrow from £200 up to £2,000, depending on the measure, and the monthly repayments can be as little as £10 depending on how much is borrowed. However the loan must be repaid in full within 36 months.

For more information or to request an application form please contact Wirral Methodist Housing Association on 0151 647 5471.