Climate Change and Your Home – Social Housing Tenants Survey

Scotland’s Housing Network and the Tenants Information Service (TIS) are doing a survey of social housing tenants across Scotland to help understand tenants’ views and attitudes towards climate change.

The Scottish Government recently published Housing to 2040 which sets out their vision for housing in Scotland over the next twenty years. As part of this, they have committed to adapt existing homes to make them more environmentally friendly. An important part of Housing to 2040 is also to reduce climate change by decarbonising heating systems. This means moving away from gas heating systems and using more energy efficient options, such as solar panels and heat pumps.

Meeting these aims is a big task and social landlords will need to invest a large amount of time and money. This is why they need your help, as a social-rented tenant, to plan how to manage the improvements needed to people’s homes, especially as this will involve carefully assessing the impact that these changes could have on rent levels.

Completing this survey will also help social landlords across Scotland understand what tenants and residents views on climate change are and what they would like to know more about. This will help us to develop a communication strategy that can be used across the social housing sector.

The survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. As a thank you for taking the time to do so, you will be able to enter a prize draw to win £50 of high street vouchers at the end of the survey. 

QR code for Climate Change and you Home survey:

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Heat Well Angus Fuel Vouchers are still available

Do you live in Angus?

Have you lost income because of COVID-19?

You can still apply for a limited number of fuel vouchers on a first-come, first-serve basis, subject to eligibility checks and proof of residence.

The Scottish Government scheme, administered by the national advice service Advice Direct Scotland, aims to stop households falling into fuel poverty.

The Home Heating Support Fund is open until March 31 and applications can only be made on behalf of individuals by ‘referral partners’.

The referral partner for Angus residents is Save Cash and Reduce Fuel (SCARF) and their Angus Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT team). Their expert debt advisers will assess eligibility and apply for funding on the individual’s behalf if appropriate. Targeted funding will reflect each individual’s circumstances, with extra support available for households where one person is over 75, they rely on electric heating, or live in a remote or island community.

Eligibility is based on households that are ‘self-rationing’ their energy, meaning those who are deliberately limiting their energy use so that they can afford to spend money on other goods or services. This could be as a result of home-working or home-schooling due to the pandemic. Any households which are ‘off-supply’ are not eligible for the fund and should seek support from their energy supplier or organisations which can refer them to the Fuel Bank Foundation.

For more information and to check eligibility, Angus residents should call HEAT on 0808 129 0888  or apply online via the SCARF website

Get Help to Heat your Home

With the rise in energy bills, many people will find themselves in fuel poverty this year. That’s why the Scottish Government has launched a £3 million Home Heating Support Fund . Debt, money or energy advice agencies can refer individuals in need of financial assistance.

There are also grants available through SCARF for Angus residents whose income has been affected by COVID-19.

Home Heating Support Fund – Get Help With Heating Costs

The Home Heating Support Fund is a Scottish Government scheme for households struggling with energy bills because of a growing cost-of-living crisis. The scheme, which is administered by the national advice service Advice Direct Scotland, is to prevent households from falling into fuel poverty and help those ‘rationing’ their energy use.

The fund is open until 31 March 2022 – to apply, call SCARF on 0808 129 0888 and speak to the Angus HEAT team.

If your household is ‘off-supply’, you can’t apply, and you should seek immediate help from your energy supplier or organisations which can refer you to the Fuel Bank Foundation.

Even if your household is not eligible, SCARF can give you free advice on energy and debt issues.

Energy Saving Trust -Latest news

Energy Saving Trust is working to address the climate emergency by helping businesses and homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint. Please read their news and offers below.

Green Homes Network

The Green Homes Network features more than 300 homes across Scotland, with homeowners who have installed home renewables and want to share their experiences. The network comprises homes of all kinds; from eco-builds to historic stone cottages, listed buildings and everything in between.

Network members are friendly homeowners, keen to share their experience about the energy efficiency improvements they’ve made to their property, the costs they’ve saved, and to help you make an informed choice.

Search the network to:

• Read case studies.
• Make an appointment to visit a Green Homes Network member.
• Attend a Green Homes Network event near you.
• Become a member and register your home on the network.

Financial support for renewable technology–Increased cashback is now available!

Up to 40% cashback for some eligible energy efficiency measures and 75% for certain renewable heating systems is now available. Cashback is subject to availability while funds last or until the end of the financial year – whichever is sooner. Funds are reserved for customers when their loan is offered.

Get up to £17,500 interest-free when you install home renewables with the Home Energy Scotland Loan.

By 2030, it’s expected that 50% of all Scotland’s energy will come from renewable sources. Change is happening right across the country and you can be one of those leading the way. By exploring and installing home renewables, you can make sure that your house is the smartest on your street.

Visit the Energy Saving Trust website to find out more.

Free energy advice service launched for Scotland

Scotland’s national advice hub, Advice Direct Scotland, is now providing people in Scotland with free energy advice to help them deal with bills and suppliers.

Following the recent devolution of consumer powers, Advice Direct Scotland has taken on the Scottish Government-supported delivery of energy advice and has launched the energyadvice.scot platform.

Free, practical advice and information on energy-related matters are available to anyone in Scotland, ranging from supplier enquiries, understanding the complaints process, and what to do if experiencing problems with energy bills.

The service also covers accessing grants, what to do if people fall victim to energy scammers, and advice for those who are at risk of disconnection.

You can contact energyadvice.scot by freephone 0808 196 8660, on Facebook, email, or through live webchat.

The website also includes an online knowledge centre for people in Scotland, with information on:

• Billing and meters
• Complaints and disputes
• Grants and assistance
• Scams and fraud
• Loss of energy supply
• Switching suppliers.

Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme

Warmer Homes Scotland is a Scottish Government funded scheme. The scheme helps people in need to make their homes warmer and cost less to heat. It does this by changing your home to use energy more efficiently.

Warmer Homes Scotland is open and taking applications all through the summer months.

The Scottish Government funded scheme has now helped over 20,000 households get new boilers, radiators, insulation, home renewables and more.

Call Home Energy Scotland free on 0808 808 2282 or check out their website for more information.

New energy efficiency improvement project in Angus

We are pleased to announce a new energy efficiency improvement project in partnership with SCARF (Save Cash and Reduce Fuel) and two contractors authorised to undertake improvement works in Angus: Qualis Scotland Ltd and Diversity Energy Solutions.

The project will tackle fuel poverty and energy inefficiency in private sector housing. Households in certain areas of Angus will receive letters inviting them for a free survey of their property to help improve the energy efficiency of the home and reduce energy bills.

Undertaken by one of the two contractors, the survey will identify what suitable energy efficiency improvements could be made. Throughout the process, the contractors will give advice relating to potential measures and timescales involved. In most cases, the improvement works will be fully funded, however in some cases a small contribution may be required.

Representatives from the contractors will always carry photo identification and a copy of the letter issued to the household, so remember to request ID badges. You should not allow surveys/access to your home if you have concerns about the legitimacy.

This is currently a pilot project aimed at specific areas in Angus, enabling the contractors to manage their workloads and target their resources to certain areas at a given time. It is hoped that the project can be expanded to include other areas in the future.

If you receive a letter from one of the contractors, please do not contact us but instead follow the instructions either to proceed with a survey or opt-out. You can contact SCARF or the contractor for further information.

Our Trading Standards team has received reports of individuals pretending to be acting on behalf of the Scottish Government phoning and offering home insulation, party funded by the council. THIS IS A SCAM.

Trading Standards advise anyone contacted by a caller claiming to be from the Scottish Government, offering home insulation to call Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000. 

 

New Angus energy efficiency improvement project

We are pleased to announce a new energy efficiency improvement project in partnership with SCARF and two contractors for improvement works in Angus: Qualis Scotland Ltd and Diversity Energy Solutions.

This a pilot project aimed at specific areas in Angus to tackle fuel poverty and energy inefficiency in private sector housing. Households in certain areas of Angus will receive letters inviting them for a free survey of their property to help improve the energy efficiency of the home and reduce energy bills.

The survey will identify what suitable energy efficiency improvements could be made. Throughout the process, the contractors will give advice relating to potential measures and timescales involved. In most cases, the improvement works will be fully funded.

Representatives from the contractors will always carry photo identification and a copy of the letter issued to the household, so remember to request ID badges.

If you receive a letter from one of the contractors, please do not contact us but instead follow the instructions either to proceed with a survey or opt-out. You can contact SCARF or the contractor for further information.

New crisis fund to help households in fuel poverty

Scarf has partnered with Home Energy Scotland to launch a new emergency hardship fund. The fund aims to help the most vulnerable households heat their homes in these difficult times.

The Scarf Heat Fund will help provide instant access to heat for those most at risk of, or suffering from fuel poverty.

The fund can provide help and support in the form of:

• Plug-in heaters.
• Prepayment cards.
• Access to costs for emergency boiler repairs.

This is not an exhaustive list and each application will be treated on a case-by-case basis with those suffering from fuel poverty given priority.

For more information on how to reduce your energy use while at home you can check out the Scarf website or access free and impartial advice from the Scarf team by speaking to one of our experienced advisors.

 

Call Home Energy Scotland at Scarf on 0808 808 2282 for more information on how to access Scarf’s fund as well as other grants and schemes.