AQW 51677/11-16


Mr Basil McCrea
NI21
Lagan Valley


Tabled Date: 30/11/2015
Answered On Date: 15/12/2015
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister for Social Development how many oil boilers have been installed through grants since his Department commissioned a University of Ulster Study on fuel poverty in 2010; and what was the total cost in grants.


Answer:
The Warm Homes Scheme which ended on 31 March 2015 and the Affordable Warmth Scheme which replaced it both provide new heating systems, oil, gas and wood pellet, where the householder meets the qualification conditions. The Housing Executive does not routinely collect information in a format which can easily be extracted about the type of boiler replaced or installed in the Warm Homes Scheme or for the Affordable Warmth Scheme. I have asked the Housing Executive to put arrangements in place to collect this information in a format which can be easily extracted in the future.
Under the Warm Homes Scheme a total of 5,194 heating measures were provided at a cost of £24.4m. This figure includes any heating measures provided under the first Affordable Warmth Pilot which was conducted in 2012. Under the second Affordable Warmth Pilot, 135 heating measures were provided at a cost of £233k.
The Affordable Warmth Scheme was introduced in September 2014 and since then 654 households have had heating measures installed. However, at an average approval value of £3,800 which may include other energy efficiency improvement measures, the estimated cost for those completions is about £2.5m.
Under the Boiler Replacement Scheme the level of grant available depends on the type of new boiler installed. A total of 15,547 oil boilers have been provided under the Boiler Replacement Scheme at a cost of £10.9m.
Overall my Department has spent over £38m to install new and replacement energy efficient boilers.
The Information provided in this response is governed by the Principles and Protocols of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. This is enforced by UK Statistics Authority.