Twenty-four social housing providers across Britain have been awarded a share of a £4 million fund to install green heating systems in the homes of their tenants.
These are the first winners to be announced under the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) scheme competition for social landlords, which was launched earlier this year, with further winners to be announced shortly.

125 bids were submitted in time, with the 24 successful applicants due to receive up to £175,000 to install green heating systems such as biomass boilers, solar hot water panels and heat pumps in the homes of tenants. Successful bidders included projects across the whole of Great Britain.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: 'This scheme directly targets many of the people who could struggle to pay their heating bills in the winter and I am pleased so many social housing organisations across the country will be able to get a share of the cash. It will encourage an increase in the number of new heating technologies in social housing and help people deal with expensive fuel costs.'

Karen Lawrence, director of delivery for the Energy Saving Trust, said: 'From our work with social landlords across the UK, we're well aware of a great appetite for green technologies that can help tenants heat their homes more cheaply and efficiently. We also know councils and housing associations have become increasingly proactive and knowledgeable in the field of sustainability - and this was reflected in the standard of the bids for funding that were received.

'Both this and the householder strand of the RHPP will also be great learning opportunities. Real data on performance in people's homes is absolutely key in successfully boosting the market for renewable heat technologies.'

Interested social housing providers had to set out how they would spend the funding and demonstrate clear value for money in their plans. Other criteria included details on the number of heating systems to be installed, the opportunity for learning and the number of homes not supplied by mains gas. The bids were evaluated by a panel of experts including the Scottish and Welsh Government, Energy Saving Trust and DECC representatives.

The original fund was increased from £3 million to £4m due to the large number of suitable competition entries.

The £4m is part of the £15m RHPP budget. Under this scheme householders can apply for support for a range of different green heating technologies including biomass boilers, solar thermal panels and ground and air source heat pumps. Many householders around the country have been taking advantage of this scheme since its launch in August. The vouchers are being issued on a first come first served basis by the Energy Saving Trust and the scheme is due to close on 31 March next year (for information on how to apply click here).

The vouchers range in value depending on the type of technology required: solar thermal hot water (£300), air source heat pump (£850), ground source or water source heat pump (£1250) and biomass boiler (£950).

Up to 31 October 2011, 2902 vouchers had been allocated and there are more available.

Within England, the South West region has claimed the most vouchers with 558 issued so far. Heat pump technology is proving the most popular in England and Wales whilst biomass boilers are preferred in Scotland. There are a range of other green heating technologies supported under this scheme.