A home energy assessment is a detailed check of your home to understand how it uses and loses energy — and what might help make it warmer, healthier and cheaper to run.

Around 50 Castle Vale homes are being offered this free assessment. It’s not about judging your home — it’s about using it as an example, to gather the facts we need to build a plan for future improvements that actually works for Castle Vale.

This kind of information helps us:

• Understand how different homes are performing

• Spot where problems like damp, draughts or heat loss are happening

• Identify what changes might make the biggest difference

• Build a stronger case for funding and investment that supports improvements in the future

By taking part, you're helping shape a plan that reflects local needs — and as a thank you, you’ll receive a £50 Love2Shop gift card once your assessment is complete

This is about gathering knowledge, not selling anything.

A trained assessor will visit your home at a time that suits you. The visit will take about 30-45 minutes, where the assessor will:

• Measure walls, windows and other surfaces that affect heat loss

• Check what insulation you have (e.g. in the loft)

• Look at things like your heating system, windows and ventilation

• Ask about your experience living there (e.g. warmth, comfort, condensation)

• Take simple measurements and some photos — to help understand how your home is doing in terms of energy use and what features it already has (like the boiler or loft insulation)

You’ll always be told what’s happening and why. You can ask questions at any time — and stop the visit if you ever feel uncomfortable.

The assessments are being carried out by Red Cooperative Ltd who are part of the Powering Up Castle Vale delivery team and are an independent team of energy experts, some of whom have been delivering retrofit work for over 20 years. They’ve worked with housing providers, private home owners and local authorities across the UK, including Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Red Cooperative Ltd has delivered energy improvements to nearly 100 homes and helped develop large-scale retrofit strategies (including how to do them and how to pay for them). Their focus is on reducing energy bills and making homes healthier to live in while saving carbon.

Every assessor:

• Is fully qualified and experienced

• Will carry ID and arrange your visit in advance

• Will explain everything clearly and respectfully

If you’re unsure about anything, you can contact the Powering Up Castle Vale team to check.

As a thank you for taking part in the home energy assessment, you’ll get a £50 Love2Shop gift card. You’ll also receive a short written summary showing what was found — including:

• How your home holds heat

• Where it might be losing energy

• What types of improvements could help in future.

This report will be clear and jargon-free. If you’d like someone to talk it through with you, we can arrange that.

You’re not committing to any work. This is about helping Castle Vale understand what homes need, so we can make the case for improvements.

Your £50 gift card will come as a Love2Shop e-gift card which you can use at over 80 UK retailers, or swap them for an e-gift card from more than 40 brands. Find out more about Love2shop here.

You’ll receive your £50 Love2Shop e-gift card once:

• Your home energy assessment has been completed

• The assessor has seen your energy bill (you can send it after the visit if needed)

We’ll then send your e-gift card to your mobile number and/or email within 2 working days.

If you’d prefer a physical gift card, we’ll send you a Sainsbury’s one instead of Love2Shop. It should arrive within two weeks of your home energy assessment.

Not straight away. This stage is about learning, understanding and planning.

But by having an assessment now, your home becomes part of the bigger picture — and part of the case for attracting future investment into Castle Vale. It will help us understand what’s really needed, what would bring the most benefit to residents, and what’s possible to fund.

Having an assessment now means your home will be part of that conversation — and may be in a better position if future funding becomes available.

No — it’s completely your choice. But the more homes we can assess, the better the plan will be — because it will reflect the real needs of Castle Vale.

Whether or not you take part, your information will never be shared without your permission, and no one will contact you again unless you’ve agreed to it.

No. The assessment is completely free. You won’t be asked to pay for anything, and no one will try to sell you products or services.

This work is publicly funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority, and carried out by trusted partners.

Yes — the assessor will take photos of parts of your home - for example, your boiler, insulation or windows. All photos and information collected will be stored securely and used only for planning purposes. The photos the assessor takes and the information they collect will never be published in a way that identifies you or your household.

Before your assessment, you’ll be asked to sign a consent form confirming you’re happy for photos to be taken.

All photos and information will:

• be stored securely and password-protected

• only be seen by the people modelling your home’s energy performance

• never be published or included in any reports in a way that identifies you or your household