Low-income residents of static mobile homes are to receive free energy efficiency advice and a discount on their winter fuel bills, as part of a new Ofgem trial now underway to extend the government's Warm Home Discount initiative.
The trial, which is running until March 2016, will give people living in static homes access to tailored energy efficiency advice and offer a £140 rebate towards winter electricity bills.
Historically residents of static homes have not been eligible for the Warm Home Discount because they do not typically have a contract with any energy supplier, on the grounds they are reliant instead on a supply agreement with the park site owners.
However, many park home residents are elderly, living in energy inefficient properties, and vulnerable to fuel poverty, so in early 2015 the Department of Energy and Climate Change changed the rules of access for the initiative to pave the way for the inclusion of park home residents into the rebate scheme.
Energy efficiency consultancy AgilityEco said last month it is advising the Ofgem on how the trial could be scaled up for a nationwide roll-out later this year.
Gearoid Lane, chief executive of AgilityEco, said the trial is an important step in supporting elderly people living in poorly insulated properties.
"Park home residents are often elderly, vulnerable to adverse weather conditions and their homes are likely to be thermally inefficient," he said in a statement. "Their heating bills are typically very high as park homes are usually heated by expensive fuels such as bottled gas and electricity. This results in a high incidence of fuel poverty amongst park home residents."
According to figures released in October by AgeUK, around 100,000 people aged 65 or over live in static mobile homes, many of which were built before stricter energy efficiency standards came into force and are often very poorly insulated.
The charity is campaigning for the government to roll out a tailored energy efficiency scheme specific to park home residents, following the closure of broader efficiency schemes such as the Green Deal and ECO.
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