Wirral Residents Get Comfy!

Hundreds of residents across Merseyside are benefitting from more money in their pockets each month, warmer homes and an attractive estate to live on, following a makeover from Wetherby Building Systems.

Responsible for more than 12,000 properties, Magenta Living is the largest registered provider of affordable homes on the Wirral and its building services team has pledged a long term commitment to thermally upgrading its housing stock.

Having already transformed 1,000 properties with the installation of external wall insulation (EWI), funded via the government’s Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) scheme, Magenta Living has experienced the benefits that this work can provide and so has embarked on two further schemes.

Funded through CESP’s successor, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), via a major utility company, two new estates in Birkenhead and Bromborough were identified as areas that could greatly benefit from EWI.

The two estates included both semi-detached and terraced non-traditional homes, with the existing exterior facades a mix of pebble dash and brick. Wetherby’s EpsiCoat system was specified as the most effective solution to achieve the desired results for both property types.

Comprising 90mm Epsitherm insulation boards, to help achieve desired U-values, the properties were finished using Wetherby’s EpsiCoat Mineral Render PLUS. A Silicone ‘K’ finish was originally selected for the external facade, but the specification was modified by the client to mineral render, to allow work to continue through the wet winter months, due to the product’s significantly quicker drying times.

A through-coloured render system, Wetherby’s EpsiCoat Mineral Render PLUS does not require over painting and so Magenta Living specified a variety of shades to create a separate identity for each street within the estates.

The application of EWI has seen significant improvements to the quality of living for tenants, and it was important to Magenta Homes that its residents were kept updated about the changes to their properties. Magenta Living hosted open days for its tenants to inform them of the work being undertaken, with Wetherby also in attendance at these events to advise on the benefits of the EWI system.

More than 350 properties have been fitted with EWI across the two estates, which are now not only conforming to current building regulations, due to the significant reduction in U-Values, but tenants are also due to save in the region of £250 a year on their energy bills.

Commenting on the project, John Evans, project manager at Magenta Living said: “The transformation of these estates has been incredible. The improved energy efficiency is why we undertook the work, but the overall aesthetic appearance cannot go unmentioned, as it has provided an attractive neighbourhood that residents are proud to call their home.” 

“The solution provided by Wetherby was the most effective for our requirements and, due to poor weather conditions through the winter months, we would not have completed the work in the timeframe that we did if we had not used its mineral render.”