Industry News
Energy efficiency of housing continues to improve
international obligations to reduce energy consumption. In 2019, the average SAP rating of English dwellings was 65 points, up from 45 points in 1996 and 63 in 2018. The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP
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rating) is used to monitor the energy efficiency of homes. It is an index based on calculating annual space and water heating costs for a standard heating regime and is expressed on a scale of 1 (highly inefficient) to 100 (highly efficient, with 100 representing zero energy costs). In 2019, the social housing sector had an average
SAP rating of 69, higher than the private rented sector with an average rating of 64. The social sector was more energy efficient than the private sector, in part due to its wider use of solid wall insulation, but also because of dwelling type. The social sector contains a higher proportion of
flats compared to the private sector, and these have less exposed surface area (external walls and roofs) through which heat can be lost, than
detached or semi-detached houses. The proportion of dwellings in the highest SAP
energy efficiency rating (EER) bands A to C increased considerably between 2009 and 2019, from 12 per cent to 40 per cent. Over the same period, the proportion of dwellings in the lowest F and G bands fell from 12 to 3 per cent. In 2019, the majority of dwellings (85 per cent) were in EER bands C or D, compared with 56 per cent in 2009. In the social rented sector, the majority of
dwellings (61 per cent) were in EER bands A to C, compared with 38 per cent of private rented sector dwellings and 36 per cent of owner occupied dwellings.
IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY There are two key methods of increasing the energy efficiency of existing dwellings – upgrading the dwelling’s heating system or increasing the insulation. Between 1996 and 2019, the proportion of homes with central heating increased (from 80 to 93 per
he energy efficiency of England’s housing stock continues to improve as the Government strives to meet its
cent) while the proportion of homes with room heaters as their main heating source – the least cost- effective and most inefficient method of heating – decreased from 12 to 3 per cent. The proportion of homes with storage heaters also decreased over this period from 8 to 5 per cent. In 2019, owner occupiers and councils had the
highest proportion of homes with central heating (both 95 per cent); private rented (86 per cent) and HAs had the lowest (89 per cent). The proportion of dwellings in the private rented sector with fixed room heaters was higher than in other tenures (6 per cent compared to 2 per cent in both the owner occupied and social rented sectors. Condensing boilers are generally the most
efficient boiler type and since the mid–2000s they have been mandatory for new and replacement boilers. The proportion of dwellings with condensing or condensing combination boilers has increased considerably since 2001, rising from just 2 per cent of homes in 2001 to 74 per cent in 2019. Older, less energy efficient boiler types are
more prevalent in the private rented sector. In 2019, 13 per cent of owner occupied dwellings and 9 per cent of private rented dwellings had a standard boiler, compared with just 3 per cent of social sector dwellings. The second main method of increasing a
dwelling’s energy performance is by increasing insulation. Standard insulation measures include cavity or solid wall insulation, loft insulation and double glazing. In 2019, 86 per cent of homes in England had full
double glazing, up from 73 per cent in 2009. Half (50 per cent) had cavity or solid wall insulation (up from 39 per cent in 2009) and 39 per cent had 200mm or more of loft insulation (up from 24 per cent in 2009). The increase in wall insulation across the nation’s
housing stock was mostly driven by an increase in the prevalence of insulated cavity walls. Taking dwellings with predominantly cavity or solid walls separately, 68 per cent of dwellings with predominantly cavity walls had insulation installed, compared with only 11 per cent of dwellings with predominantly solid walls.
Among dwellings with solid walls, the social
rented sector had a higher proportion with solid wall insulation (28 per cent) than the private sector (8 per cent). Among dwellings with cavity walls, the
private rented sector had a lower proportion of dwellings with cavity insulation (56 per cent) than the other tenures (for example, 70 per cent of owner occupied dwellings and 72 per cent of social rented sector dwellings).
SMART METERS The rollout of smart meters is an essential national infrastructure upgrade that will make the country’s energy system more efficient and flexible, helping to deliver on the Government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050. In 2019, 30 per cent of dwellings with mains
electricity had an electricity smart meter and 28 per cent of dwellings with mains gas supply had a gas one, up from 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively in 2018. The proportion of homes with smart meters
increased across all tenures. As in previous years, a lower proportion of homes in the private rented sector had smart meters than owner occupied or social homes. For example, 21 per cent of homes in the private
rented sector had an electricity smart meter in 2019, compared with 32 per cent of owner occupied and social rented homes. A similar pattern was observed for gas smart meters.
Council house Right to Buy sales stall
Right to Buy sales of council homes have fallen by 43 per cent in the latest figures released by the Government, falling to their lowest level since 2013. English councils sold 1,548 homes to tenants
exercising their Right to Buy between July and September 2020, compared with 2,727 in the same quarter in 2019. Councils received £137.2m from these sales, representing a drop of 40 per cent from
the same quarter in the previous year. Although the July to September period coincided
with the housing market being re-opened after the initial Covid lockdown and house sales freeze, councils were still expected to comply with legally binding timescales for selling properties to tenants exercising their statutory rights. Replacement starts on site and acquisitions of
16 | HMM February/March 2021 |
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homes (to replace sold properties) also fell when compared with activity figures for 2019, falling from 1,404 to 714 in the same quarter for 2020. Back in 2012, the Government said properties sold under the RTB would be replaced on a like for like basis, but replacements are lagging some 10,000 behind sales in the past eight years. The average receipt per council home sold in the
July to September quarter was £88,657, the second highest average receipt since records started in 2012/13 and six per cent greater than the second quarter in 2019.
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