ClwydAlyn Housing has published its fourth Environmental, Social and Governance report highlighting progress in its mission to beat poverty across North Wales over the last 12 months. One of ClwydAlyn’s priorities is to reduce fuel poverty and this has come to fruition for hundreds of residents.
As part of ClwydAlyn’s work to make homes warmer and more affordable to heat, it has upgraded heating systems, carried out retrofit work on 127 homes and introduced new renewable energy solutions including the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on properties along with battery systems that store the energy for later use. As well as this, the housing association has replaced 943 windows and 66 doors to help with insulation; in total, almost £4 milion has been invested into making residents’ homes warmer, greener and more energy efficient.
ClwydAlyn also increased its Residents Fund from £25k to £100k this past year, which allowed bespoke support to be provided to 149 residents which ranged from delivering emergency food, assisting with gas and electric bills and offering contents insurance, as well as providing wellbeing advice and support to 425 residents.
Through its work to tackle the housing shortage and reduce homelessness, the last 12 month’s has seen ClwydAlyn significantly increase the number of new homes built with 91% having an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) Rating of A, which is the highest level awarded, as well as exceeding the milestone of over 1,000 new homes built in the housing association’s current development programme.
Cris McGuinness, Chair of ClwydAlyn, recognises the achievement and the challenges that lie ahead:“ClwydAlyn is on a mission to beat poverty and enable residents to lead healthy, safe and fulfilling lives, and while we’ve made some significant achievements over the last 12 months towards this goal, we know that the challenge of poverty across Wales and the UK continues to grow.
“As we face the growing urgency of the cost of living and climate crises, 2025 will see us putting an even greater focus on these priorities. In parts of North Wales, life expectancy is seven years below the regional average, with 12 years less healthy life expectancy. That’s not fair, and while we can’t fix everything alone, we believe that fighting poverty and protecting the environment go hand-in-hand.
“From cutting carbon emissions and improving home energy efficiency to make homes more affordable to heat and improving access to affordable, healthy food, we’re determined to create a fairer society and a better future for our communities.”
