Scottish Government

Case Study 9

Description of Project

In Aberdeen there are some 12,300 flats in Victorian granite tenements (i.e. 13% of the total housing stock). Most of these are owner occupied or privately rented, but around 800 are owned by the Council or other RSLs. Just about all these flats are in mixed-tenure blocks. Most are one or two bed-roomed flats. Many of these flats are occupied by owners or tenants on relatively low incomes, e.g. first time buyers, students, older people who have elected to move to smaller accommodation.

With no improvements and electric heating these flats generally have an NHER of between 2.0 and 3.0. Many of these flats are hard to heat, resulting in high fuel costs and low comfort levels for occupants. Despite this, before setting up this project in 2003, there was a poor track record of getting improved insulation and heating systems into these properties. So a pilot project was run in 2003 to identify what would be needed to make an impact on the energy efficiency of this house type. This project has been running ever since. This project continued through 2005-07 with the same aims as in the previous 2 years: promoting energy efficiency in these blocks, looking in particular at insulation of communal lofts, draught-proofing of flats and communal areas, heating in flats and low energy lighting in flats and communal areas.

The challenges to achieving these improvements remained the same; granite buildings over 100 years old, mixed ownership within the blocks, need for repairs to communal areas and lofts full of rubbish. What changed over this period was that a way of identifying, approaching and working in these tenements well established. The scheme became better known to flat owners, tenants and landlords, and as a result referrals increased considerably. Central to this approach was the continued employment of a Coordinator who was involved in all steps of the process, from making initial contact with owners of tenement flats right through to invoicing for completed works. The figures demonstrate the effectiveness of the project.

Project Outputs

Summary of headline figures for Aberdeen Victorian Tenement Project (from when established in 2004 - 2007)

• Lofts insulated 241
• Communal doors draught proofed 158
• Tank jackets fitted 28
• New gas central heating systems 82

Total value of energy efficiency measures = approximately £300,000.