Social housing bidding opens for £1.5bn energy retrofit cash

Abstract

Up to £1.5bn is being made available through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant schemes. Social housing providers and local authorities can now submit bids for funding to upgrade the properties of an estimated 130,000 low-income and social households. The first upgrades from the cash release could begin early next year and run until March 2025, building on more than 30,000 homes already being upgraded under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant schemes. Social housing with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D or lower will be eligible for SHDF while the HUG funding will help people who are most vulnerable to fuel poverty, living in privately-owned - both rented and owner-occupied - off gas-grid homes and on low incomes. Up to £800m SHDF wave 2 grant funding will see around 100,000 social homes receiving energy efficiency upgrades, with estimated average energy bill reductions of around £400 a year at current prices. Grant funding under the SHDF scheme will have to be matched by organisations taking the total spend to around £1.6bn. The wave 2 funding builds on the £179m SHDF wave 1 round last February, which is upgrading up to 20,000 social homes. Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: "The launch of the second wave of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is hugely welcome."This vital funding will enable housing associations across the country to make significant progress in retrofitting and decarbonising their homes - work that not only cuts carbon emissions but saves residents money on their heating bills.