When Dale Hudson, a 34-year-old sustainability consultant, bought his first home he knew he wanted to make sure it was as green as possible. What he didn’t expect was that his local council would fund all the work, and get it done within five months of moving in. Here he tells Hannah Fearn how he managed to secure a £30,000 renovation of his property, what it was like to live through a full retrofit – and just how much money he’s now saving on energy bills.
When I bought my first house in February, I knew I wanted to make it as sustainable as possible. I work as an adviser to businesses on how to go green, so I wanted to make sure that I was living my values in my own home too. But what I didn’t expect is that I’d be plugged into the solar grid and saving money quite so quickly – or how little it would actually cost me.
I’d been renting in and around York for about 15 years but, like many desirable cities, the rental market was getting more and more expensive. I thought I was still a long way off being able to afford my own place but, when my bills began increasing almost scarily, I started looking at my options, and buying made more sense.
Shorts
I found a two-bed, modern end-of-terrace property which was first built in 2001. This meant it had fairly modern building standards, including timber double glazing and cavity wall insulation. It had been rented out for quite a long time before I bought it, so it had very minimal decor and needed some painting, but I wanted something that I could move into quickly.
