Successful scheme puts homeowners on course for energy efficiency

The innovative scheme SuperHomes Three Rivers, led by Three Rivers District Council and the National Energy Foundation (NEF), successfully supported homes across the district to become more energy efficient by helping homeowners navigate the retrofit process, from planning the upgrades and identifying financing options to finding trusted contractors.

The retrofit one stop shop service offered 100 households a free technical overview of their property’s energy performance and recommended the most suitable energy efficiency measures for their home, including estimated energy, carbon and bill savings.

Of those involved, 24 households retrofitted their home with 53 energy-saving measures, helping to lower their energy use and their environmental impact.

The SuperHomes Three Rivers service was well received by residents, with 100% of survey respondents agreeing that their free retrofit plan helped them to understand where energy losses were occurring in their home and the improvements they could make.

Cllr Jon Tankard, Lead Member for Sustainability and Climate Change, said: “We are proud to have successfully trialled a retrofit advice service in Three Rivers which marked a major step forward in our mission to improve domestic energy efficiency across the district. The SuperHomes scheme was all about setting people on the correct path to help them improve the energy performance of their homes, to reduce the cost of utility bills and save money - and it has been very successful at doing that. I am pleased for all those households that benefitted from it, and I look forward to similar such projects in the future.”

The project was one of a number funded through Fast Followers from Innovate UK – the UK’s national innovation agency – which aims to advance local progress towards net-zero and help unlock the barriers to building a greener future. The council and its partners, Grand Union Community Energy and the National Energy Foundation, received £298,000 from Innovate UK in July 2023.

Cllr Tankard added: “The Fast Followers funding has been transformative for the council and its partners in advancing local progress on climate action, and we are grateful to have received this funding from Innovate UK.”

Find more information on how you can improve the energy efficiency of your home, including grants and support available, by visiting: https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/services/environment-climate-emergency/home-energy-efficiency-sustainable-living

Notes:

• Fast Followers project ran from July 2023- June 2025.

• More information about Innovate UK’s funding here: Net Zero Living: Fast Followers - Innovate UK Business Connect