25,000 homes supported by Scottish Government’s fuel poverty scheme

Warmworks has recently marked the milestone achievement of 25,000 customers supported through the Scottish Government’s Warmer Homes Scotland scheme.

As the Managing Agent for Warmer Homes Scotland, it gives all of us at Warmworks – and me personally, as Operations Director, supporting the scheme’s delivery – great pride to know that, since we began work on the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme in 2015, we have been able to help so many homes and families. We’ve been able make an impact all across Scotland, making homes warmer and improving household energy efficiency in every local authority area in the country.

For me, what’s been most rewarding working on the scheme has been seeing the difference we have been able to make to our customers’ lives.

In our most recent Customer Stories booklet, Mrs E from Glasgow told us that before the help she received from Warmer Homes Scotland, she was having to wear thick clothing to stay warm at home. After we installed a new air source heat pump for her, she said that she now feels constantly warm and comfortable, with the amount she is now spending on her energy bills now standing at only one tenth of what she was used to paying previously.

Mr N from Cupar in Fife also told us about how he was spending so much on his existing electric heating that he decided to stop using it altogether. After the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme helped install a new air source heat pump in his home, along with a new heating and hot water system, he said that he was “looking forward to a winter – the first in many years – where [he] didn’t need to stress out about the fact that [he was] freezing in most of the house”.

These are just two stories, just two people and two families, whose lives have been changed for the better because they can live in a warm, dry home. There are so many more like them in the 25,000 households that the scheme has already supported.

At the same time, we’re also very proud of our strong track record of delivering quality for our customers – with more than 98% of our installations passing an independent inspection at the first time of asking.

Additionally, we’ve recently learned that the benefits of the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme go even further than we previously understood. A report from the Social Value Lab published in November 2021 demonstrated that the scheme has positive impacts on the health, wellbeing and disposable income of our customers. Moreover, it also showed that the benefits of the scheme extend through all levels of society – directly from our customers, to our suppliers, to the NHS and all the way up to the Scottish Government.

Of course, none of this success would have been possible alone. We have supported these 25,000 homes across the country thanks to our partners and the organisations that work with us, from the Scottish Government to our network of 24 registered and accredited sub-contractors.

The Scottish Government has shown its commitment to the scheme by increasing funding for Warmer Homes Scotland to £50m for this financial year. And Warmworks is determined to continue delivering on that endorsement to make sure that we continue to reach those who need our help.

With more renewable technology installed through Warmer Homes Scotland in the last year than in any other year in the lifetime of the scheme, we are also increasing our commitment to helping people in the journey towards building a Net Zero nation. We know that the transition to net zero must be inclusive and provide for those most in need – those people, families and communities who can’t get there by themselves.

The past seven years of delivering the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme – and now reaching this milestone achievement of 25,000 customers supported throughout Scotland – has put really strong foundations in place. But with energy prices rising and more people being placed at risk of a life in fuel poverty, we know that there is still a great deal more work to be done. I hope that we’ll be able to build on these strong foundations to help many more people across the country in the years ahead.