North Ayrshire has vowed to make social housing across the region as energy efficient as possible.

At a meeting of Cabinet last week, elected members agreed plans to move forward with a range of measures designed to make our housing stock more sustainable.

Currently the Council is ranked third in Scotland for Energy Efficiency Standards and the vast majority – over 97 per cent – meet the requirements set out.

While North Ayrshire has been very proactive in meeting the original targets of the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) a new milestone (EEESH2) has been set for 2032.

This would see all social housing in Scotland achieving an energy efficiency rating of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band B or above – within the limits of cost, technology and consents required.

The council is targeting being net-zero by 2030 and is already looking at further ways of making our housing stock more energy efficient alongside tackling fuel poverty.

A commitment has been made to invest in the installation of various sustainability measures to existing social housing stock.

These improvements range from fabric insulation measures to the installation of further solar panels, taking the total number of houses with solar panels fitted to over 6000.

These measures will cut CO² measures by 6,260 tonnes per year and reduce tenants’ energy bills by an average of £117 per year.

Work has already commenced on installing these sustainability measures.

Council Leader Joe Cullinane said: “We are determined to make all our social housing as energy efficient as possible.”