Stroud District Council has bagged a coveted award for its its commitment to boost the energy efficiency of hundreds of social homes within its authority.

At the Retrofit Academy awards, the council was named as the Best Social Housing-led Retrofit Programme.

Cllr Mattie Ross, Housing Committee Chair, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have been recognised in this way, especially given the high calibre of competition.

"We are often asked why we retained our housing stock whilst so many other councils sold them off. This is why. We have always aimed high to deliver the best service to our residents. This award is us fulfilling this promise and fully deserved."

The award is for a Gloucestershire-wide consortium project, which is led by SDC, and brings together social housing retrofit across the county.

As well as improving the insulation of the properties and, therefore their energy efficiency, the project has also ensured it has reduced fuel poverty for tenants and cut the carbon emissions of the least energy efficient homes in our housing stock.

Cllr Lucas Shoemaker, Housing Committee vice chair added: "This award aligns with all three areas of The Council Plan, delivering high quality homes whilst striving to meet our 2030 target. More importantly, this project is making a difference to the lives of the people who live in these houses."

The Retrofit Academy CIC, which organises the awards, says that its mission is to drive the development of 200,000 competent retrofitters by 2030. It describes the target as a "big challenge but one that's absolutely essential if the UK is to achieve its target of being net zero by 2050".

To get over the line for 2050, the academy says the UK needs to make improvements to 1.8 homes every minute over the next few decades.