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Offset the Latest Rate Rise

Mortgage payers facing higher repayments following yesterday's interest rate rise can help offset the additional cost by using home energy more efficiently - and cutting fuel bills, says Eaga plc.

After the fifth rise since August last year the Bank of England base rate is now 5.75%. If lenders pass on the rise it would add an average of £16 a month to a £100,000 mortgage.

Ashley Guise, Eaga plc Divisional Managing Director, said: "After mortgages, energy bills are among the highest costs householders face. Simple measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation, draught proofing of windows and doors can all bring down these costs by hundreds of pounds a year.

"Every pound saved by having energy efficiency measures installed could help budget against increased household costs and rising prices."

Households on qualifying benefits can also apply for Warm Front grants of up to £2,700 to install energy efficient heating and insulation in their homes. To find out if you qualify for a grant contact 0800 316 6007 and quote MK858 or visit www.warmfront.co.uk.

According to the Energy Savings Trust a typical three-bedroom semi-detached home can save between £180 and £220 a year through efficient loft insulation and between £130 and £160 with cavity wall insulation.

Replacing ageing boilers with modern, high-efficiency boilers can also lower heating bills by up to 30%.

 

Notes to Editors

  • Eaga plc is the UK’s largest residential energy efficiency provider. The company is a leader in the provision of innovative and sustainable services, products and solutions that address the environmental, social and energy efficiency objectives of Government and the private sector both nationally and internationally.
  • Working in partnership with central and local government Eaga is positioned at the heart of policy-making and front-end delivery of social and environmental improvement programmes. Eaga operates across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland, India and Canada employing over 3,500 people.
  • Eaga was established in Newcastle in 1990 to lead government funded efforts to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people living in cold, damp and energy inefficient homes across England. Since its inception, Eaga has made a positive difference to over 5 million disadvantaged households across the UK, by installing energy efficiency measures and central heating.
  • Eaga holds the contract to deliver the £1.5 billion Warm Front programme in England, the cornerstone of government's target to eliminate fuel poverty by installing energy efficiency measures in vulnerable homes by 2010. Eaga also works with devolved nation governments to deliver similar schemes across the UK.
  • As a co-owned business, Eaga is one of only a handful of UK organisations where every employee with over a year’s service is entitled to a share in the success of the business. Eaga’s commitment to co-ownership is an integral part of the values that define the ethos of the business and what it means to be an Eaga employee.
  • The Government has set targets for all local authorities to have all social rented homes meeting Decent Homes standards by 2010. This requires homes to be fit for habitation, in a reasonable state of repair, with reasonably modern facilities and services and a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.
  • Since 2000, Eaga has invested over £3 million in the independent Eaga Partnership Charitable Trust which funds research into solutions to fuel poverty.

 

Media Contact

Rik Kendall
Group Media Relations Manager
Eaga plc
07852 134 154
0191 245 8342

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