Kendal Market Hall completes low-carbon heating upgrade
Heat-pump upgrade
complete
Published 21st October 2026 · Public estates · England
Westmorland and Furness Council has completed an air-source heat-pump installation at Kendal Market Hall, replacing inefficient gas boilers as part of a wider programme to decarbonise council buildings.
CURRENT STATUS
The Market Hall upgrade is complete. It sits within a £1.75 million programme covering several public buildings, supported through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The council has also match-funded the gas-boiler replacement element from its prioritised capital-maintenance budget, taking the programme’s total value above £2 million.
The council estimates that the projects covered by its announcement will together avoid 343.2 tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent each year. That figure applies across the programme described by the council, not to Kendal Market Hall alone.
WHAT HAS BEEN DELIVERED
At Kendal Market Hall, the completed decarbonisation works replace the former gas-boiler system with an air-source heat pump. The wider programme at the building has also included roof replacement, perimeter-wall repairs, solar photovoltaic panels, an internal strip-out and electrical works.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix. It supports public authorities to reduce emissions from their estates. Westmorland and Furness Council says the programme supports its ambition for the area to reach net zero by 2037.
WIDER PUBLIC-ESTATE PIPELINE
Related works were also underway at Appleby Leisure Centre when the council published its update, including an air-source heat pump. Rooftop solar PV and triple glazing had recently been installed there through a separate Sport England-funded project. Further initiatives at Kendal Leisure Centre and South Lakeland House were planned for later in 2026.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The project shows how national grant funding and a council’s own capital-maintenance budget can be combined to move a public building away from fossil-fuel heating. For estate teams, the useful delivery point is the funding stack: the heat-pump programme is backed by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, while other building improvements use separate regeneration and Sport England routes.
It also marks a completed low-carbon heating milestone within a larger refurbishment. Keeping those strands distinct matters: the £1.75 million and 343.2 tCO2e figures relate to the wider decarbonisation programme described by the council, while the Market Hall regeneration has its own scope and funding.
NEXT STEPS
The council was out to tender for the next design phase and the building contract for the Indoor Market Hall fit-out. That stage forms part of the Heart of Kendal regeneration programme, funded through the government’s Local Regeneration Fund, which has a spending deadline of 31 March 2028. The decarbonisation installation itself is complete.
SOURCES
Westmorland and Furness Council — “Decarbonisation works complete at Kendal Market Hall”, published 10 June 2026:
Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme information — Salix:
https://www.salixfinance.co.uk/schemes/public-sector-decarbonisation-scheme