Hundreds of ageing council homes in Swadlincote and South Derbyshire are significantly energy inefficient, potentially leading to worse health and higher bills for their tenants.

South Derbyshire District Council owns around 3,000 homes, and a sample of 700 of these found a third had energy efficiency ratings below C.

A represents the most energy efficient and G is the least. D is the national average.

Paul Whittingham, the council's head of housing, said at a meeting last night (Sep 30) that all of the homes in question are already fitted with double glazing and top-grade boilers.

He said these homes may require fully replacing in order to give them the drastic energy efficiency improvements they require.

Mr Whittingham said: "They are at the end of their life, so for some this is a replacement programme."

Of the council's 3,000 homes, 80 per cent were built between 1950 and 1980, with the next largest percentage being built between 1930 and 1949.

Of the homes, 51 per cent are flats; 25 per cent are bungalows; 22 per cent are houses; and two per cent are maisonettes.

Three of the homes assessed in the sample had "no insulation".

In papers submitted as part of the meeting, Mr Whittingham details that of the 700 homes analysed by Nottingham City Council, on behalf of the district council, 231 were rated D or below.

The breakdown is as follows:

A – 0

B – 1

C – 468

D – 205

E – 24

F – 2

A new law introduced in April 2018, the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015, lays out that there would be fines for landlords up to £5,000 per property for renting out a home with an energy efficiency rating below E, unless there is a specific exemption.

The district council adopted this law in January 2019, and as shown above, a survey of 700 homes found two fall into this category.

If replicated throughout all 3,000 of the council's homes, this could total 12 homes which landlords would not be allowed to rent – or face a fine. But the council still does.

The council has been asked if it has an exemption for these homes, and if not, why it is operating homes which a private landlord could be fined for.

Nottingham City Council recommends the council focuses on insulating roofs, doors and windows as a way to upgrade properties and reduce bills for tenants.

The district council says the average cost per property to get them to an energy efficiency rating of C is £15,000.

It is bidding for £1 million in Government funding, and is set to front £500,000 from its reserves to support the bid, to upgrade the homes.

Nottingham estimates it would cost £10.5 million to get the council's housing to zero carbon emissions.

A key way to reach this is through installing solar panels on the rooftops of council housing.

Allison Thomas, the council's strategic director for service delivery, said improving council housing was a key change which needed to be made in order to get the authority to net carbon-zero.