Social Housing Landlords in England awarded £782 million to Retrofit properties
The Government today awarded wave 2.1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) to over 100 Social Housing Landlords including Local Authorities in England. This is in addition to match funding by those organisations, taking the estimated total investment to over £2 billion. From April, successful RSL’s will begin to upgrade their homes with a range of energy saving measures from wall and loft insulation to new windows and doors as week as introducing new technologies like heat pumps and solar. It is hoped that the measures will save residents hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills, whilst making their homes more comfortable to live in. The schemes form part of the Governments commitment to reduce overall UK energy demand by 15% by 2030.
In order to meet the terms of funding award, RSLs must bring selected properties within the scheme up to EPC band C or higher, using a fabric firs approach. Importantly, all schemes must be compliant with the PAS2035 and PAS2030 specifications and guidance, which are standards designed to provide a standardised framework for the application of energy retrofit measures.