Prime Minister Visits Fulham

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Cameron tours Bayonne Estate

Prime Minister David Cameron toured the Bayonne estate in north Fulham on October 17 to see how local council tenants are benefiting from new cavity wall insulation, thanks to a combination of government grants and a partnership between Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Climate Energy Ltd.

283 homes in the Fulham estate will benefit from new cavity wall insulation, with the works coinciding with the council’s Decent Homes programme to reduce the need for extra scaffolding and disruption.

More than 100 properties have been completed so far, and among those are the home of Ann and John Ford, who have lived on the Bayonne estate for more than 20 years.

" We used to have a wicked draught whistling through our windows and from under the door," John told the Prime Minister. " But since the council has fixed them and we’ve just had our walls done we only need to put one radiator on instead of the four we had blasting last winter. We are warm now and we can have no complaints."

Homes built after the mid-1940s are likely to have a cavity between the two external walls – contributing to heat loss and higher energy bills. Speaking in the Fords' living room, ahead of an energy summit at Number 10, the Prime Minister: " We need to make the energy market more competitive and it is also in all of our interests to get as many homes as possible insulated properly so we can get bills down and keep warm."

The homes of elderly residents in other parts of the borough have also been prioritised with the improvements expected to slash £100 a year off each property’s energy bill and cut each home's carbon emissions by around a ton.

Cllr Andrew Johnson, H&F Cabinet Member for Housing, says: " In these tough times we have been doing our bit for residents by cuttings bills like council tax, but now we also to want to insulate our tenants from spiralling energy bills where we can. A combination of government grants and good joint working on the ground is creating more energy efficient council homes in the borough that are both warmer and crucially result in lower bills for our residents too."

 

 

October 21, 2011