Green services provider Eaga has secured funding of up to £45 million for community-based household energy efficiency improvements.

The money will help low income households and neighbourhoods by making their homes warmer and more affordable to heat.

Raised through the Government's Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) initiative, this funding is available now to help social housing providers with existing or planned projects.

CESP is worth £350 million and obliges energy suppliers and power generators to invest in whole-house and whole-area improvements. It also encourages investment in measures such as external wall insulation (EWI) and fuel switching specifically to help households with so-called hard-to-treat homes.

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Dan Ludgate, from Eaga, said: "This is a perfect opportunity for housing providers to share the cost of major upgrades. Funding can be used on relatively small scale upgrades, for example we have recently provided Affinity Sutton housing association with £20,000 which has contributed toward a boiler swap programme. Alternatively, for certain large scale retrofit initiatives with the right mix of measures and in areas of high density housing, the CESP funding from Eaga can cover the entire cost of the works."

CESP runs until December 2012 and local authorities are being urged to act now to gain full benefit.

(CD/GK)