London mayor launches energy makeover scheme

London mayor Boris Johnson has launched a £9.5m series of trials to cut energy used in 10,000 households across nine boroughs.

The plan is to extend the scheme to between 200,000 and 500,000 homes across London by 2012 rising to 1.2m by 2015.

Mr Johnson said: “With more than a third of London’s climate change emissions being generated from domestic properties, making our homes more energy efficient is a no brainer.

“The ambition of these plans to target at least 200,000 homes by 2012 is unprecedented in the capital and will place London at the forefront of a low carbon economy, along with all the benefits for job creation and the environment that this will bring.”

The nine initial boroughs are Croydon, Camden, Lewisham, Harrow, Havering, Haringey, Hillingdon, Kingston and Southwark.

Selected households in each will be visited by a home energy assessor, who will install energy efficiency measures such as low energy light bulbs and stand-by switches and offer energy saving advice.

More substantial steps such as loft and cavity wall insulation will be subsidised for those able to pay and free for those on benefits.

Extending the programme to up to 1.2 million households across London by 2015 will depend on further government and private sector funding.

If so, the Mayor’s office calculates the scheme could save 350,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually rising to 1.2 million if other measures such as loft or wall insulation are introduced.

The scheme announced last Tuesday (Nov 10) is among efforts to meet the Mayor’s target of cutting carbon in the capital by 60% by 2025.

Sean Brennan, London Councils’ executive member for sustainability, said: “These trials represent a massive stride towards delivering a low-carbon economy for London.

“Providing residents with the right advice and tailored support will kick-start our campaign to reduce carbon in the capital.”