Call to end estate energy 'waste'

Residents of the Duffryn Estate in Newport pay a flat rate for heating

A council estate resident wants changes to an "all in" heating system she considers expensive and wasteful.

Vannita Popli has delivered her own survey to 1,000 homes in Newport.

Householders in Duffryn currently pay a flat amount for heating and hot water regardless of how much they use - or even if they are away on holiday.

Newport Council said the system probably needed upgrading but it was in the process of transferring housing stock to a new organisation.

Ms Popli's questionnaire said the current system wasted energy and asked residents if they would like more control over their energy use.

"I go to my mum's [on the estate] and say to her 'it's so hot in here, turn the heating down' and she says 'just open the door'," she said.

I wanted to opt out but they said I couldn't Vannita Popli

"The attitude is 'well, we're paying for it'. One guy has solar panels but he's still got to pay.

"The heating is inefficient in the houses - it's not properly controlled."

She said residents were paying up to £80 a month, which she believed was too expensive.

The amount residents pay depends on the size of their home but does not take into account how much fuel they actually use.

Ms Popli is one of more than a quarter of the estate's residents who have bought their homes but they must still pay the flat charges.

"I wanted to opt out but they [Newport council] said I couldn't, everyone was tied in to it," she said.

"I would like to see every house have an individual combi-boiler and cistern and you pay for what you use, just like everybody else does in the whole country."

Duffryn residents' and tenants' association chairman Trevor Watkins said the cost to residents had doubled in recent years and the heating system could be improved.

"Say I go on holiday for two weeks - I still pay the same," he said.

Stock transfer

"I think it could be regulated far better than it is with some sort of encouragement for residents to cut down on their carbon footprint."

Newport Council said it was in the process of handing over its housing stock to a new organisation, Newport City Homes.

"The system probably does need upgrading but we're going through a stock transfer process at the moment," said a spokesperson.

"If the assembly government agrees, we're on track to transfer it in February then it would come under Newport City Homes.

"They [Newport City Homes] will basically have a pot of money for improvements to properties to reach Welsh housing quality standards and it would be up to them then to decide what to do with the [heating] system."

The spokesperson said this type of district heating system could be more efficient and cheaper than individual heating systems and was actively supported by the assembly government.

She added that the amount paid by residents only increased once a year and the last increase was 3%.