Wandsworth Borough Council : Cheaper heating and hot water bills for more than 2,400 council properties

People living in more than 2,400 properties on housing estates across Wandsworth will see their heating and hot water bills reduced by a further five per cent or more in April.

Lower energy bills for 2,417 homes served by communal hot water and heating systems are the result of the council's ability to purchase its gas supplies in advance at very competitive rates.

Last year bills fell by ten per cent. This is being followed this year by a further reduction of five per cent which will cover the 12 month period from April onwards when new contracts come into effect.

The council's energy procurement record has led to significant cost savings for tenants and leaseholders in these properties over the past nine years.

Bills for a one bedroom property are now 48 per cent lower than in 2009 while those residing in homes with two bedrooms have seen their bills fall by 51 per cent.

These reductions have been achieved at the same time as costs for other domestic energy customers have increased by around 20 per cent.

Thousands more tenants and leaseholders in Wandsworth are also benefiting from better energy efficient homes which has also helped drive down bills and carbon emissions.

A prolonged and comprehensive programme of improved cavity wall insulation, combined with new double glazed windows, plus investment worth £15m over the past six years installing the latest generation of boilers and heating systems has also helped to significantly reduce energy usage.

Wandsworth's cabinet member for housing Cllr Clare Salier said: This is great news for thousands of people living on our estates whose central heating and hot water is provided by a communal boiler system.

'By planning ahead and purchasing our gas supplies at very good rates in advance we have been able to deliver significant savings on our residents' fuel bills until at least April 2019.

'And our ongoing work to make all our homes much more fuel and heat efficient means our tenants and leaseholders simply don't need to use as much gas. That's good for family finances and for the environment too.'

The council spends around £50m a year on improving and maintaining its housing stock. A large portion of this money is used to make homes on the borough's housing estates more energy efficient.