Wakefield and District Housing: Meet Hawkin the robot helping keep Wakefield residents warm this winter

Hawkin – a remote-controlled QBot robot – is being employed in Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) properties to install underfloor insulation

Funded by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), Hawkin can move through the most challenging of spaces with ease to accurately spray foam insulation.

The scheme is part of works to improve energy efficiency on less efficient homes across the district.

So far, with the QBot project and other projects, over 500 WDH homes have felt the benefit of the cash boost from SHDF, thanks to a successful funding bid by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, aimed at providing warmer homes and reduced energy use.

Sue Young, executive director of Investment for WDH, said: “It is fantastic that we are using these new retrofit technologies.

" It will greatly support our efforts to improve the energy performance of our customers’ homes enabling us to sustainably reduce their carbon footprint whilst providing warmer, more efficient places for our tenants to live.”

Coun Denise Jeffery, leader of Wakefield Council and chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee, added: “Here in West Yorkshire, we want everyone to have an affordable and sustainable place to call home, and our innovative housing providers are working to make that happen.”

“We’re committed to supporting partners like WDH to develop new technologies that boost insulation, slash energy bills, and help us build a greener, more vibrant West Yorkshire that works for all.”