On January 29, 2026, Sefton Council announced it had secured a £300,000 government grant to make social housing in Bootle, Merseyside, warmer and cheaper to run. The funding — part of the government’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund retrofit programme — will be used to upgrade social homes in the Bootle area, including neighbourhoods such as Netherton and Seaforth.
The cash will pay for retrofitting measures including external wall insulation, loft insulation, double glazing and smart heating controls, as well as other energy-efficiency improvements. The council estimates these upgrades could reduce household energy bills by around £300–£500 a year.
The project sits within the wider Sefton Home 2030 partnership, through which Sefton Council has teamed up with The Sovini Group (including partner One Vision Housing) to deliver and upgrade 1,000 social and affordable homes by 2030. As Place North West reported, the council has shifted its approach to prioritise social rent and truly affordable homes.
Council Leader Cllr Marion Atkinson said the partnership is about more than buildings: “This partnership focus will be on high-quality, truly affordable homes and homes for social rent… it’s about more than just building homes; it’s about building futures.”
This funding announcement follows the recent handover of council homes at the Buckley Hill (Molyneux Gardens) scheme in Netherton — the borough’s first new council homes in almost 20 years, according to Sefton Council and local reporting. The council has said it will continue to improve older houses and retrofit social housing to ensure tenants have high-quality, energy-efficient homes.
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