Published 24th Aug 2023, 16:45 GMT

21 homes in Malton, North Yorkshire were the first to receive the upgrades, with the remainder, which are in other cities, towns and villages across the county, scheduled for completion by March 2024.

The work is part of Yorkshire Housing’s drive to improve the energy efficiency of its 16,500 homes.

Bob Spedding, head of asset strategy at Yorkshire Housing said: “Our homes across Yorkshire produce around 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and we plan to get that number to zero by 2050. To help us do that we’re investing £30 million over the next five years in an extensive programme of energy efficiency and heating system upgrades, as well as spending £36 million on external elements like roofs and walls."

Rainbow Road, in Malton. Yorkshire Housing is installing new roofs and solar panels on 150 of its homes as part of a £5 million roof improvement programme.

All the homes earmarked for the improvements have an energy performance rating of SAP Band D or E, which means they are using more energy and have higher running costs than other homes. Yorkshire Housing currently has around 3,500 homes that are SAP Band D or below, and is aiming to improve these ratings to SAP Band C or above by 2030.

Mia Marshall, a Yorkshire Housing customer whose home was part of the first phase of work said: “The improvements have made a big difference. I’m already seeing savings on my electricity usage after my first meter reading since the work was done, and the roofs look great too.”

Yorkshire Housing launches £5m roof improvement programme