Industry Viewfinder INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER
The Decarbonisation of Social Housing – Part Two
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With climate concerns at an all time high, the housing sector is under increasing pressure to decarbonise its stock. Meanwhile, the Government’s net zero 2050 commitments continue to loom
large, and tenants are struggling to pay for the energy needed to warm their ineffi cient homes. Intended to support the cause, the Government says it has allocated an
estimated £6bn in funding to cut energy use in housing, with applications of its latest wave of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund closing in January. T is has arguably made little headway in settling the sector. T ere is a distinct lack of confi dence of the sector’s ability to reach these
targets, as well as in the Government, which has already back-stepped on its measures (such as its plans to enforce an EPC rating of C in all rental properties last year), alongside the turbulent politics of 2024 leaving everyone unsure of what is next. Following on from our 2023 study – which revealed that 41% estimated
their tenants to be fuel poor and 80% believed UK social housing’s energy performance to be inadequate – we decided to revisit the research to fi nd out the performance of our respondents housing stock to fi nd out how (if at all) it has improved. While some progress is notable, the mountain to climb remains as stark
as ever. Over a fi ſt h do not think the decarbonisation of social housing is important, while 78% would describe at least some of their tenants as fuel poor – and almost half of respondents had still not heard of the Social Housing
Decarbonisation Fund, despite its fi rst wave occurring in 2021. T e research survey targeted housing professionals, with nearly three-
quarters of the respondents holding managerial or director positions. T e investigation aimed to understand the reasons behind their perspectives, identify the barriers they face, and assess the current state of their housing stock.
INTRODUCTION Climate specialists across the globe have time and again found that humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the past two centuries, and all warn of the stark ecological and humanitarian disasters that will come in its wake if carbon emissions continue to be leſt unchecked. According to the National Housing Federation (NHF), domestic use of fossil
fuels accounts for 21% of England’s carbon emissions, with social housing in particular making up half of this. While some headway is possible at present through capturing or off setting
emissions – by planting additional trees or using the still immature technologies of mechanical carbon capture – these will only go so far, and elimination of unnecessary carbon emissions will play the primary role. T ere are numerous sources of carbon emissions in UK homes, especially
in the fuels used to heat them. Technologies like heat pumps and decarbonised heat networks are already in circulation and performing well here, but these will rely on a strengthened energy network (which itself needs to be decarbonised) to prevent high electricity costs, as well as the insulation necessary to allow these technologies to work as effi ciently as possible.
“What do you believe the main barriers to the decarbonisation of the UK’s social housing stock will be?”
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMJune/July 2024 | 21
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