Littlehampton Block Reaches New Heights in Insulation

In 2008 a Partnership of 6 adjoining Local Authorities formed the West Sussex Partnership, and won a bid for 3 years of funding from the Regional Housing Board to help fund any excess payments required for Warm Front grant applicants. When the Warm Front Grant maximum was increased at the start of 2009, demand for ‘top-up’ funding was greatly reduced and the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) permitted the West Sussex Partnership to use £250,000 of the funding for alternative energy efficiency projects. As a reaction to the complicated problems faced by residents of blocks flats, to try and overcome some of the issues the West Sussex Flats Insulation Project was set up with £70,000 of the budget. HCL Energy was selected to manage the project using Titan Insulation, a local insulation company that had already proved themselves in problem solving on complicated insulation jobs.

Managing Energy Bills and keeping warm are becoming increasingly difficult problems for many people as energy costs continue to rise. But residents of Kingmere a 13 storey high-rise block of flats in Littlehampton will have less to worry about now thanks to a West Sussex project, which has allowed cavity wall insulation to be installed by an innovative team of abseilers.

Improving the energy efficiency of homes, especially through insulation can help heating systems work more efficiently, save money on energy bills and reduce carbon emissions. But unlike most homeowners, residents of blocks of flats often face a number of specific barriers and challenges to making such improvements.

The West Sussex Partnership’s Flats Project used local Insulation Project Managers to co-ordinate all their flats projects. For Kingmere the project managers committed to obtaining 100% permission to carry out the work and get hold of CERT funding information from all residents. Even with assistance from the residents committee, it took just over a year to get all 53 leaseholders to agree to insulate the cavity wall insulation. One of the added challenges was that 58% of the block rent their flats, so leasehold landlords had to be contacted for their permission too. High-rise buildings like Kingmere also have further challenges to being insulated due to their great height; for many, due to the high cost of scaffolding, the only way to afford the access equipment required to install the insulation would be to wait until routine maintenance is necessary. Fortunately, since 2009 Avalon Abseiling have been able to offer a substantially more cost effective and quicker alternative for such buildings since they adapted their abseiling maintenance skills to be BBA approved to install cavity wall insulation. Avalon have now installed insulation in a number of local authority owned high-rise blocks across the London Boroughs but Kingmere in Littlehampton is the next exciting step forward as it is the first privately owned block that Avalon have ever approached. This fantastic opportunity for Kingmere was finally confirmed at the end of the West Sussex Flats Insulation Project, a two year project that was setup in 2009 by the West Sussex Partnership. The project was designed to not only facilitate but also financially assist with installing insulation in blocks of flats, but the high cost of access equipment to 13 storeys meant all the residents of the high-rise block also needed to contribute to costs. Nevertheless, at a total of £24,600, coming in around 60% cheaper than quotes for doing the work with scaffolding; not a single leaseholder protested to paying their contribution.

Roy Scrivener, the freeholder of Kingmere has reported that he is delighted with the work Avalon have completed and has had only positive feedback from residents of the block. Being so close to the sea, the 1960s design that protrudes high above the surroundings is exposed to the elements, but residents living in the most exposed top floor flat have already noticed the difference. Even cupboards suffering terribly from damp that were so bad they could not be used in the past have dried out within 4 weeks of the work thanks to the new insulation in the cavity wall.

Although it is challenging to carry out energy efficient improvements to privately owned blocks of flats, anyone wishing to upgrade their block should be inspired by Kingmere. Grant funding from utility companies is still available this year for cavity wall insulation which can reduce costs further. There is likely to be upfront contribution to pay from each flat but the savings in energy bills that will follow should pay for the work in just a couple of winters.

You could try contacting your local authority to see if they have a local insulation scheme that can help with your block. Also if there is a Residents Association or Management Company that can co-ordinate the whole project that should also make things a lot easier.

Jo Brooks is the Energy Efficiency Officer for Arun District Council.