2. Park home pilot
Park homes are much harder and more expensive to heat resulting in higher levels of fuel poverty. The council has over 1200 residential park homes in the district which are largely occupied by older, vulnerable residents.
Teignbridge council’s park home survey (2017) which was completed by 325 residents. Findings show that 98% of park home owners have an income below £30K, and 83% have an income less than £20K. Findings also show that 70% of owners are over the age of 70, and 61% have a long term illness or health condition.
The council has worked in partnership with energy supplier EDF on a park home pilot. EDF partly funded the installation of external wall insulation on 12 park homes through the ECO Flexible Eligibility scheme. Teignbridge council also contributed toward the cost of works.
Further work will be undertaken to target park homes and work in partnership with two ECO installers who have access to ECO and Ecoflex grant funding to help meet the costs of installing external wall insulation on park homes. To date there has been limited government funding available for park home owners. Funding has been available to install heating measures and limited funding for insulation measures. With the help of ECO funding more residents will be encouraged to have external wall insulation installed on their park homes.