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storage heaters, compared with £390 from a ground source heat pump – less than half the cost.” The scheme’s communal ‘micro district’ design – in which a Kensa


Shoebox heat pump installed inside each bungalow is connected to one of 25 communal boreholes – ensures eligibility for Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding provided by Kensa’s partnership with EDF Energy, plus twenty years of income through the Non Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). This design also avoids the need for a plant room, and provides complete


heating independence to the tenants who are free to switch energy providers as and when they please. Each resident will also receive a new hot water cylinder and radiators in place of the dated night storage units.


A WIN-WIN SITUATION What makes these two schemes even more attractive is their long-term financial viability. In fact, part of the innovation behind Energiesprong itself originates from the funding process. The household pays an ‘Energy plan’. Energiesprong maximises energy and maintenance savings as well as other


incomes from renewables and energy services. These incomes are guaranteed over a longer term by the solution provider, creating an investment envelope typically between £40-50,000 for a 3 bedroom home. The occupant also receives a guaranteed energy service plan, akin to a mobile phone bundle, with hot water provision for a family, a kWh allowance and the ability to heat their home to 18-21°C all year round. The landlord (NHC) receives an on- going income to fund similar works to more homes. “Feedback has been really positive” says Jon Warren, market maker at


Energiesprong UK, “there’s no need to decant and tenants get a warm and desirable home within a fortnight.” Energiesprong is kick-starting the UK market with additional EU funding to cover the initial setup and higher costs associated with pilot volumes. Warren adds: “We are aiming to follow the


Council takes over unsafe private tower block


Slough Council has taken over a privately owned block of flats in the town after it failed fire safety tests carried out in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower blaze. Nova House in Slough has aluminium cladding


Charging the wrong rent results in downgrade


Devon based Teign Housing has had its governance downgraded from G1 to G2 after the


Regulator reports rise in complaint referrals


The social housing regulator has received a 15 per cent increase in reported breaches of


Dutch example and make an ‘energy-leap’ to a volume deal, where they have delivered over 2,000 and are now upgrading 1,000 a year to 2050 standards, without subsidy.” In a similar vein, the Burton Gardens retrofit is costing Stonewater £700,000 to install. The scheme is benefiting from subsidies by an upfront ECO grant of £95,000, which has an expected payback of 16 years with Stonewater receiving an additional £800,000 income over 20 years from the Government’s non-domestic RHI scheme. “This is a win-win situation,” comments Leon Storer, Stonewater assistant


director of assets (West) “where not only are we installing a sustainable, efficient heating solution that pays for itself and gives Stonewater a return over 20 years of RHI grant, the main factor for us all is that it reduces our residents heating bills and enables them to live in a warmer, healthier environment.”


that has failed all Government tests commissioned by the DCLG. The six-storey block is home to around 200 people and because of safety concerns, the council has paid for a fire engine to be stationed outside the building 24 hours a day since late September. This goes further than Government advice but


it mirrors action taken by several councils in London and other cities to reassure their own tenants that any fires will be quickly spotted and extinguished. Other social landlords have placed fire marshalls in tower blocks as part of an early warning system.


3,600-home landlord was found to have been overcharging its tenants for a number of years. Errors were made in rent-setting, resulting in a


“significant number” of tenants being overcharged. The regulator said Teign’s response was “swift and decisive” with plans in place to reimburse tenants and the local council. Teign has commissioned a review into its control systems and has been “open and


consumer standards by housing associations in the last year. Consumer standard referrals can only be made


to the Homes & Communities Agency by official bodies or individuals such as an MP, a councillor, the Housing Ombudsman or the Health and Safety Executive. In a review of its consumer standards


regulation, the HCA said it received 532 referrals Sohail Munawar, leader of the council, said:


“We have been concerned about the fire safety at Nova House since the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower and have been closely monitoring the situation. Unfortunately, it has now got to the stage where we feel, to protect the safety of the residents we have to intervene directly and take over responsibility for Nova House.” Slough Council itself owns four high-rise


blocks, two of them are currently empty awaiting demolition, while the other two are subject to a round the clock safety watch because of their cladding.


transparent” with the regulator. Jo Reece, chief executive of Teign Housing,


said: “The governance downgrade is due to a failure in one key, isolated, area which we have moved ‘swiftly and decisively’ to address. While we are clearly disappointed to have our governance downgraded, our executive and board’s focus is on restoring our G1 status as quickly as possible.”


in 2016/17, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year. Of these, 105 were investigated and seven led to the regulator ruling there had been a breach – three more than in the previous year. The HCA said where providers breach a


consumer standard their systems are often “poorly designed, poorly implemented, or both”. The breaches were mostly due to problems with fire or gas safety works.


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM November 2017 | 25


© Frank Hanswijk


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