£100million retrofit fund announced
Posted by Lisa Taylor on Wed, Oct 12, 2011
The London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) is a new source of retrofit funding for Greater London. A £100M financing pot has just been made available for retrofit projects in London. The London Energy Efficiency Fund provides low-cost, low-interest, flexible loans for public-sector organisations aiming to cut the energy consumption of their assets by at least 20%.
Retrofit costs
Depending on whether you are moving to 20% to 80% less carbon retrofitting a property can cost tens of thousands of pounds. Many of these costs result from technical aspects of building to low carbon, in particular getting to low air tightness and good ventilation levels in existing homes and renewable technologies. This funding can be quite an invaluable opportunity to improve your stock.
Who can apply?
Applicants can be public, private or partnership groups as long as the work is done to public-sector assets.
Funding for housing providers
Only £11M is available for social housing itself, but at the Oct 3 launch, the LEEF partnership – including the GLA, RBS and Arup, and managed by Amber Green Sustainable Capital – agreed that offices, maintenance facilities and properties such as sheltered or student housing could also apply under the £100M funding. Since this is not a large fund, applicants are encouraged to contact LEEF early with a project concept and get on the list.
How can you qualify for funding?
Funding will be provided on a “first-come, first served basis for those with projects ready to go in the first 12 months." Factors cited at the launch event included having good baseline information, an investment plan and some evidence that performance-in-use will deliver the energy savings in the proposal. Tenant engagement was also cited as an advantage.
More information is available
For more information, visit LEEF. If you’re thinking of submitting a proposal, let us know; our CROHM service may help improve your chances.
