How Will the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund be Delivered?
The government has recently commenced the roll-out of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which will see around 20,000 social housing properties that are currently below EPC C, be upgraded to deliver warmer homes, reduce carbon emissions and cut fuel costs for tenants.
Headline Sponsors for Smart Housing Midlands and North West, Aico|Homelink IoT solution may assist with the project’s delivery phase.
The sensors provided by Aico|Homelink can assist in the delivery, with technology providing an innovative solution for stock identification, a measure of energy efficiency and post-installation monitoring.
The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund will not only bring environmental benefits to housing around the UK but will additionally support roughly 9,000 jobs in the green energy sector and deliver carbon emissions savings equivalent to taking up to 6,000 cars off the road in any given year.
Winning bids set to be led by local authorities
According to a statement from Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), All of the winning bids are led by councils due to rules preventing housing associations from bidding directly to the SHDF under phase one.
This will mean that innovation and collaboration will be at the heart of all projects in the future as Housing associations must instead work in partnership with local authorities to access the funding.
BEIS will spread the funds across the whole country depending on each of the needs of the specific councils. In the first round of funding, released in February 2022, Westminster announced they would receive £3.3 million; Greater Manchester will receive £10.5 million.
In line with the improvements set out in the Housing Delivery Test, the Midlands also see significant funding. Leicester will receive £4 million to improve social housing across the area.
Aico leading by example on the path to net zero
As part of their Zero Carbon pledge, Aico has increased the number of solar panels on the roof of their headquarters in Oswestry and are installing more Electric Vehicle Charging Points.
In 2021, Aico committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Following this, they joined the Zero Carbon Shropshire 2030 pledge and now work with other local businesses in the Shropshire Climate Action Partnership to work toward decarbonisation, large-scale restoration of biodiversity and the creation of more sustainable businesses. This is to set the benchmark for how Social Housing in the UK should approach net-zero.
Aico has now increased their solar panel system from 32 to over 200 units to a 160kw system, which will enable them to reduce their carbon emissions significantly.
Aico has also begun a project to increase their number of Electric Vehicle Charging bays from four to ten to accommodate more colleagues and visitors who own emission-free vehicles.
Lee Duffy, Aico’s Operations and Learning & Development Manager, has overseen the project and is delighted with the progress adding, “We have committed to being net zero by 2030. The measures we are taking are just the start of our journey towards this goal. It’s critical we all act, as a market leader, we have a responsibility to make the community we call a home cleaner and more sustainable.”
