NEWS UPDATE


Renewable records set in


Wales Record numbers of solar panels and heat pumps were installed in Welsh homes and businesses last year, according to the MCS database of certified installations. 2023 saw more than double the amount of renewable projects than the previous year, bringing the total number of Welsh homes and businesses with renewable energy to over 100,000. It was also the first year that installations rose above 20,000 in a single year, according to the MCS database of certified installations.


Solar panels made up the


majority of the new renewable energy, with a total of 14,730 MCS-certified installations.


HOME IMPROVEMENTS


Upgraded housing stock for Birmingham residents


Birmingham City Council has unveiled plans to invest a record £5bn in its housing stock over the next 30 years to ensure its tenants and leaseholders can live in warm, safe, and sustainable homes. Within that investment, the council will spend £1.4bn to ensure all existing housing stock complies with Decent Homes Standards in the next eight years. These plans represent a record level of investment in its housing


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stock by Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority provider of affordable housing in the UK. They also come less than a year


since the City Council entered a section 114 notice under the Local Government Finance Act. This only occurs when a Council accepts it has insufficient money to cover its budget. Nonetheless, these investment plans have now been approved by the chief financial officer, along with a refreshed Asset Management Strategy which sets out the plans to improve housing stock quality across the city, as well as the contracts to deliver these plans. The Asset Management Strategy details some of the improvements tenants and leaseholders can expect, which include surveys conducted on all of the existing housing stock to assess their condition, thus ensuring that all council houses achieve an EPC rating of C.


The Housing Revenue Account is a ring-fenced account predominately


funded through council tenant and leaseholder payments, ensuring that the HRA Business Plan is unaffected by Birmingham City Council’s financial situation


Housing Cabinet member Jayne


Francis says: “All our tenants and leaseholders should be living in warm, safe and sustainable homes. But we acknowledge that this has not been the experience of all of our residents – we must get the basics right for our tenants and leaseholders. “These ambitious plans will


prioritise investment in our existing council house stock above all else, so the quality of residents’ homes can be improved as quickly as possible. Widespread investment is needed as four out of five homes in our housing stock is over 50 years old. “The result is that many of our


existing tenants and leaseholders will see significant improvements in their accommodation; these improvements will cut energy bills and make them safer and warmer.”


Calls for energy certificate reform


Reforming Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to be net zero-ready will speed up the decarbonisation of the UK’s built environment, according to a new report published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE). The report – Energy Performance


More funds allocated for carbon reducing waste heat projects


The Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) has allocated £80.6 million to heat network projects in London, the South West, and the North of England that harness waste heat energy from industry and sewerage works, using heat pumps to provide low carbon heating. Included are the Greenwich Peninsula ESCO District Heating Network, Hull East Heat Network, Exeter Energy Network, and Bolton District Heating Network. These initiatives are expected to


reduce carbon emissions, provide low carbon heat to various buildings, and support the development of energy efficient homes. The projects are also expected to have immediate benefits for the communities they serve and act as models for future developments. The GHNF is delivered by Triple Point Heat Networks Investment


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Management on behalf of the UK government. Programme director Ken Hunnisett says: “This latest cohort of successful GHNF applicants are proving that the potential for our homes and workplaces to be heated sustainably and affordably by renewable sources or from waste heat from existing infrastructure such as our sewerage works and industry is being realised today. The use of excess heat from local sewage plants is another exemplary heat network model that builds on and utilises existing infrastructure to deliver low carbon heating to local areas. “These projects are expected


to move quickly into construction, delivering significant immediate benefits to the communities they will serve while providing a blueprint for others to learn from and develop.”


Certificates: enabling the home energy transition – outlines how EPCs for existing homes need to develop to make them more useful for homeowners. It presents ideas for their development and delivery to ensure they are ready for the transition of homes to net zero, including: • Currently EPCs have a ten-year


lifespan – the report argues that an EPC should be valid for five years to provide more up to date advice and information for homeowners. • Government should enable


more of the detailed data collected to produce an EPC to be used to plan retrofit, while respecting homeowners’ privacy and data protection. • A review and strengthening of the training and continuous professional development requirements for domestic energy assessors could build trust and confidence in the system and ensure that assessors can help drive the net zero transition of housing stock.


• 40% of homes do not have


an EPC. Often these are the least energy efficient homes which have not been recently improved or changed hands. Official development of a provisional EPC rating for these homes could help to identify retrofit opportunities. • In 2022 just 5% of people had


used the advice on the certificate to improve their home. By making this advice easier to use, the EPC can become a much more widely used and trusted tool. Gillian Charlesworth, BRE


chief executive, says: “Energy Performance Certificates cover 60% of UK homes, and are a key source of information used in planning retrofit programmes and in government policies. But too often the public see the certificates as just a bureaucratic necessity. With targeted reforms, the government can ensure the EPC can really achieve its potential.”


EIBI | FEBRUARY 2024


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