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Decarbonisation group urges government to get back on track

The government needs to release the full £3.8bn of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in the upcoming Autumn Statement to alleviate concerns regarding the UK’s green priorities.

That is according to Derek Horrocks, chair of the National Home Decarbonisation Group.

He said the government’s backpeddling on green policies – for example the decision to ditch minimum EPC ratings for landlords by 2028 – is ‘a cause for concern’.

The £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which first opened in August 2021, was designed to provide £3.8bn of funding to Local Authorities over a 10-year period.

Horrocks said: “The UK is often described as having some of the oldest and least energy efficient housing in Europe meaning there is substantial work to be done to decarbonise some 27 million homes if we’re going to meet our ambitious targets.

“Over the course of this parliament, a long-term plan to fund decarbonisation of social housing has been built, and the scale and ambition of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund has attracted significant investment and forward-thinking contributions from the construction industry.

“Despite this, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has chosen to back pedal on a number of green policies that risk substantially slowing progress. This all feels like a big step back in net zero agenda and we’re urging the government to be more ambitious in the short term.

“Confidence across the market has been severely shaken through the government’s announcement to scrap policies to force landlords to upgrade energy efficiency in their homes, instead only ‘encouraging’ households to carry out the work.

“Meanwhile, the phase out of fossil fuel boilers has been pushed back significantly, along with disbanding the energy efficiency taskforce intended to speed up home insulation and boiler upgrades, which was only launched in March of this year.”

“This may have a knock-on impact for the work in the social housing space, which is the catalyst for everything else. It’s the way we build our supply chain, skills, and innovation – so when businesses in the private decarbonisation sector accelerate this work, the foundation is already there.”

Horrocks backed the message from the National Housing Federation’s chief executive Kate Henderson, who days prior to Sunak’s announcements urged the government to not let net zero slip down the political agenda and to make sure housing associations have the funding to meet targets.

He added that the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) has seen great success.

However seeing as Wave 2 schemes already allocated there’s a need for the £3.8 billion already allocated to Wave 3 to be released earlier. This should be accompanied with details of the competition and an aspiration for successful bids to be announced before the end of the fiscal year.

Horrocks added: “This would be the clear signal to housing providers, and the decarbonisation supply chain to continue the investment in innovation, skills and training at scale – continuing to build the foundation for the drive to net zero.

“So much momentum has built over recent years, and we simply cannot let that go to waste and descale the industry. Many contractors and housing providers have invested huge amounts of time, resource and money to invest in the skills, innovation and processes to carry out the work needed – and in many cases has shaped parts of their business plans too when it comes to investing those resources.

“It’s important that we further the agenda to provide home decarbonisation at scale more quickly and efficiently than ever. Collaboration at scale and a community-driven approach are definitely key to this. Our members bring together the major players in the housing decarbonisation space, with Tier 1 contractors and energy suppliers. These organisations will be critical to the success of home decarbonisation, with an estimation that they will carry out more than 80% of the large-scale domestic retrofit in the UK.

“Ultimately, we have to remember that decarbonising homes is about much more than just achieving net zero. It’s also about supporting millions of people feeling the impact of the ongoing energy, cost of living, and health crises too – so the sooner we get these homes decarbonised, the better for society all-round.”

The association, in support with the National Insulation Association (NIA), has written to Rishi Sunak on the issue.

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