Green Loans for Homes

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Project type:

Energy Efficiency

Foundation funding:

£50,000

Total project value:

£71,800

Lifetime CO₂ savings:

3,389.00tonnes

Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Credit Union is helping fight fuel poverty in the region by financing interest free loans for household energy saving improvements.

The scheme is aimed at members who are on low wages and therefore unable to afford the relatively high one-off costs of installing measures such as energy saving boilers, cavity wall and loft insulation and heating control systems.

Mike Barry, from Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Credit Union, said: “There are a lot of people in the region who don’t qualify for any other types of funding and in some cases even bank loans aren’t available to them. This scheme gives people opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have.”

Applicants can request up to £5,000 payable over 3 years for a single, or variety of improvements. Only after the work has been completed and signed off are the funds released ensuring the loans are only used for energy efficiency purposes. Repayments are spread into affordable amounts, and long term the savings are made through reduced bills. The union uses repayments to fund further loans, making Foundation’s support go further to benefit more people and create more carbon savings than a traditional grant would.

As well as helping its members protect themselves from fuel poverty, the union is helping the local economy benefit too by encouraging loan recipients to utilise local contractors and suppliers to provide work and materials.