A scheme to cut energy from at least 200,000 homes in the capital by 2012, was kick started by the Mayor of London and London Councils.

Boris Johnson launched a series of trials to give up to 10,000 domestic properties a carbon makeover, helping the capital to tackle climate change, save money off bills and create 'green' jobs.

From this month, residents in targeted areas within nine boroughs will be offered a free of charge service to include a range of easy to install measures to reduce their energy use. This will include switching to low energy light bulbs and changing to stand-by switches. The aim is to also offer more substantial steps, such as loft and cavity wall insulation, which be subsidised for those able to pay and free for those on qualifying benefits.


The boroughs that will be running the trials are: Croydon, Camden, Lewisham, Harrow, Havering, Haringey, Hillingdon, Kingston, and Southwark.

This programme aims to cover all areas of London, visiting between 200,000 to 500,000 properties by 2012 and 1.2 million domestic properties by 2015 subject to the leverage of additional finances from government and the private sector. Installing the easy measures being offered by 2015 could save 350,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. By installing further measures, such as loft or wall insulation, reductions of more than 1,200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide could be made 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.

"London is crying out for a much more simple, easy to access scheme to help people go green, and these trials will help us create this. The combination of people all taking small steps in their homes, adds up to a massive difference for our efforts to combat climate change.

"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."

(CD/BMcC)