Net Zero and New Homes: Housing’s role in the North’s recovery

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On Wednesday 8th July, Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his Summer Economic Update – the second stage in the Government’s economic response to Coronavirus. At the NHC, we urged the Chancellor to take the opportunity to place net zero and new homes at the heart of the North’s recovery.

The Chancellor has previously warned that we face a ‘severe recession, the likes of which we have not seen.’ Forecasts suggest that the effects of this recession will be most strongly felt in the North, setting back efforts to level-up.

Just as housing organisations across the North have played an important role in the immediate response to Covid-19, we’re keen to play our part in the North’s economic and social recovery.

Following consultation with our members, we urged the Chancellor to use the Summer Economic Update to provide an economic stimulus which would also deliver on Government’s existing priorities on levelling-up, net zero and new homes. Our Net Zero and New Homes paper to Government set out how Rishi Sunak could do this.

Advancing towards net zero by investing in the North’s existing homes

A quarter of the North’s carbon emissions come from our existing homes. Retrofitting these homes will be necessary to deliver on net zero, and in the social sector there is a readily available delivery mechanism. Improving the North’s homes even at a steady rate could create 20,000 jobs at pace, providing a direct and positive impact on local supply chains. It will put money back in people’s pockets through energy bill savings, and reduce pressure on the NHS.

To create this net zero stimulus, we recommended that Government:
• Confirm their 2019 manifesto commitments to a Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grants
• Bring forward the £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund with immediate effect, enabling councils and housing associations to invest at scale and pace

New homes to meet the needs of a levelled-up region

The North needs a housing offer to meet the needs of its current and future population – around 50,000 new homes every year. Building new affordable homes, and readying sites for future housing growth of all tenures will provide an immediate, tried-and-tested boost to the Northern economy. It will contribute to Government’s ambition to boost housing supply across the country.

To create this new home stimulus, we recommended that Government:
• Immediately open the £12bn Affordable Homes Programme announced at Budget 2020, with flexibilities on tenure and delivery
• Bring forward the Single Housing Infrastructure Fund announced at Budget 2020, opening the whole fund to the whole country.

The North’s housing sector already supports over 100,000 jobs and over £10bn of economic activity. We’re rooted in communities and keen to work with Government to make the North an even greater place to live.

There was some positive news from the Summer Update – with £2bn allocated to Green Home Grants in the private sector; and a £50m net zero pilot for the social housing sector. However, we think the Chancellor missed the chance to deliver at scale and pace, by opening up the £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. That’s what the NHC will be focusing on as attention turns to the third phase of the Government’s economic response : this Autumn’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

Our Summer Economic Update on-the-day briefing is still available to read online. Sign-up to receive our on-the-day briefings by emailing karen.brown@northern-consortium.org.uk

#OurNorth Net Zero Webinar Programme announced

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On the 13th July the Northern Housing Consortium launched #OurNorth – Net Zero at a Webinar where we were joined speakers representing the United Nations, devolved Combined Authorities, and of course the NHC membership. Here, we outlined our commitment to achieving Net-Zero as a core policy objective.  Our long-term aim is to ensure that homes and lives across the North are improved through the decarbonisation of the North’s existing housing. Over the rest of 2020, we are looking to deliver on two outcomes through #OurNorth – Net Zero. We want NHC members to feel connected and informed and we want to contribute to securing the policy and resources you need to decarbonise homes in your communities.

To achieve that first aim – to build the confidence and knowledge the social housing sector needs to lead on making decarbonisation a reality across northern England – we are committing our engagement programme to bringing members together with expert speakers, and each other, to answer questions, share learning, and make taking action less daunting.

On November 3rd, we’ll hold our flagship Northern Housing Summit online for the first time. Our headline speaker is Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change. In the run-up to the Summit, we’re running a series of webinars on aspects of the Net Zero challenge – enabling members to connect with each other and hear from key stakeholders. We will look to create a safe place to discuss the challenge of Net-Zero with peers from other organisations.

All events will take place online via Zoom and are free for NHC members, announced so far:

 

Climate Emergencies – Ambition, Policy, Action

Wednesday 9th September 2020 – 13.00 – 14.30

Over 60 of the North’s Local Authorities have declared climate emergencies. At the same time, the region’s Housing Associations are also beginning to develop their own bold climate plans. As we all know, the challenge now is to turn this vital wave of ambition into clear local strategies.

At our inaugural session of the #OurNorth – Net Zero webinar series we’ll be joined by key speakers from inside and outside the social housing sector to discuss the practical ways Local Authorities and Housing Associations are transitioning from ambition to action – building on the strengths of local assets and centring communities to ensure climate resilience.

For more information and to book your place click here:

https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=Climate_Emergencies_-_Ambition_Policy_Action3247105678

 

Understanding Your Stock – Asset Management & Energy Efficiency

Wednesday 16th September 2020, 10.00 – 11.30

Achieving Net Zero has made housing organisations think about their homes, and their Asset Management Strategies, in new ways. We all understand the implications of doing nothing, but the desire to ‘get it right first time’ weighs heavily on our minds.

This session will hear from those working directly with the asset management implications of energy efficiency. Attendees will hear about how to develop and implement a net-zero orientated strategy, to the technical considerations of refurbishment.

For more information and to book your place click here:

https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=Understanding_Your_Stock_Asset_Management_Energy_Efficiency3548475913

 

Financing Energy Efficiency

23rd September 2020, 13.00 – 14.30

Developing new net-zero housing as well as making the investments required to deliver decarbonisation in existing homes will require a mixture of public and private finance.

To do so, the social housing sector is beginning to look more closely at demonstrating their environmental credentials to growing investor interest.

Financing Energy Efficiency will look closely at the sector’s increasing interest in ESG Reporting – effectively highlighting and reporting strong performance around Environmental, Social and Governance measures that aligns with, and attracts, private finance increasingly looking to support ‘positive impact’ investments.

For more information and to book your place click here:

https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=Financing_Energy_Efficiency1941979212

 

A full programme of events is being developed and will be announced soon – as part of the webinar series we will be looking closely at:

  • Implementing retrofit, from fabric first to home energy systems
  • Eco-living – the importance of green spaces and biodiversity
  • Decarbonising Rural Areas
  • Getting communities onboard with Net-Zero – education and engagement with residents

We want to hear from our members and discuss your thoughts and suggestions on the topics and speakers you think NHC members would benefit hearing from, or to hear about the good practice already taking place in your organisation.

Please contact Liam Gregson, Member Engagement Manager – liam.gregson@nhc.org.uk

 

 

Guest blog – More councils using Locata’s document upload module

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Locata’s document upload enhancement is being used by increasing numbers of housing schemes across the country.

The 13 partners forming the Kent Homechoice scheme, four more in the West London partnership, New Forest and North Herts were some of the first councils to take the update to their CBL system.

There are now several more councils ready to go live over the next few months, including three in East Sussex, four at Bucks Homechoice as well as Reigate & Banstead and Welwyn Hatfield.

The enhancement allows applicants to upload supporting documents at any time through the scheme’s public website. This means the documents can be uploaded using mobile devices using the public site’s Web App, as well as laptops and PCs.

Officers can ask for specific documents on individual applicants.  They can also turn off the upload functionality on an individual basis.

The supporting documents are uploaded directly to the back office to await verification. All the documents submitted by an applicant appear as one journal entry and the officer can easily see what the document is and which household member it belongs to.

The officer can also edit the household member and document type if the applicant assigned it incorrectly.

When evidences have been uploaded an email or task notification is sent to the officer handling the case to say the documents are ready for verification.

The document upload module includes the support and storage of all the extra data that has been uploaded.

For more information visit Locata’s website here.

Creating the capacity to deliver on our housing ambitions

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On June 24th, over 40 NHC members joined with the NHC and Homes England for a joint workshop on local authority skills and capacity.  The highly interactive session was focused on understanding and responding to local government capacity needs.

The Homes England team presented their emerging thinking on the agency’s role in providing the skills and capacity places need to make homes happen. Feedback from NHC members will inform further development of Homes England’s model.

The workshop follows new research from the NHC published in February, which quantified the reduction in housing and planning capacity in the North’s local authorities over the last decade. Our study found:

  • The average net spend on housing in northern councils has fallen by 54% since 2010/11, compared to a reduction of 34% in the rest of England
  • The average net spend on planning in northern councils has fallen by 65% since 2010/11, compared to a reduction of 50% in the rest of England.

Commenting, the NHC’s Brian Robson said:

“Since we published our research in February we’ve been engaging with partners to take the recommendations forward. In Homes England, we’ve found a receptive partner with a shared interest understanding and responding to local government capacity needs. I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the workshop, and look forward to seeing Homes England’s model develop further to meet the North’s needs.”

Time to put #HomesAtTheHeart of the North’s recovery

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Building and improving homes must be at the heart of the North’s economic and social recovery from the coronavirus crisis.  That’s the message from right across the North’s housing sector, and it’s why the NHC was delighted to add our support to the #HomesAtTheHeart campaign being coordinated by the National Housing Federation, CIH and other national sector bodies. NHC CEO Tracy Harrison was one of the signatories to an open letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, alongside Northern voices like Homes for the North and the GM Housing Providers group.

Since late April, the NHC has been working with members to think through the economic and social impacts of Covid-19 on the North of England, and consider the ways housing can contribute to the North’s recovery and help us build for the future. Huge thanks to the members who responded to our consultation on the emerging themes. We’re clear that our offer is about getting levelling-up back on track through a focus on net zero and new homes. Look out for our paper setting out housing in the North’s offer to Government.

#OurNorth – Net zero

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Decarbonising the North of England’s existing housing stock will be central to the UK’s climate ambitions, with figures from 2017 showing that 26% of all carbon emissions across the northern regions are from our existing homes. Work is under way, Local Authorities across the North have declared climate emergencies and Housing associations and ALMOs have made ambitious commitments to decarbonise their homes.

The message from NHC members is clear – it’s not about if we do this, it’s about how we do it.

The Northern Housing Consortium are launching the Our North Net Zero campaign to address this, putting together a series of opportunities for members to stay informed on the wider climate agenda and confident to lead on making decarbonisation a reality across the North of England. The work programme will culminate in our flagship Northern Housing Summit on 3rd November where Lord Deben, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, has agreed to speak.

Our first webinar is on the 13th July at 13.00 – we’re delighted to confirm that we will be joined by Jamie Driscoll, Mayor of the North of Tyne, to give a keynote address. Jamie declared a Climate Emergency on his first day as the elected Mayor of the North of Tyne and in the time since has lead the Combined Authority in placing strong emphasis on an inclusive approach to the climate agenda.

With further speakers to be announced soon, we encourage all our members working on the climate / decarbonization agenda to join us to:

  • Be informed on how national, regional, and local governments are putting Net-Zero plans in place – and bringing communities on board.
  • Hear from a panel of Northern Housing Consortium members on how they see the challenges and opportunities of the decarbonisation agenda.
  • Learn how the Northern Housing Consortium plans to support you – with an events and networking programme to build the connections and knowledge needed to upgrade your homes, as well as our influencing plans which will make the case to Government on the central role the sector will play moving forward.

Our contribution will be key to Government’s priorities on reaching Net Zero and levelling-up. We hope you can join us in July to advance this incredibly important work.

To book your place at our free member webinar on the 13th July please follow this link:

https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=Our_North_Net_Zero3372080513

Any questions, or to share your views on which aspects of the climate agenda the NHC should cover in it’s events program please email Liam Gregson, Senior Member Engagement Officer – liam.gregson@nhc.org.uk

Mediaworks Goes Global With Record-Breaking Short Course

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Award-winning digital agency Mediaworks and York St John University have received over 2,500 applications from across the world in just 10 days for their Virtual Digital Marketing short course.

At the beginning of May, Mediaworks and York St John University agreed to produce and deliver a shortened introductory version of their MSc course.

With businesses closed and social distancing a reality for the foreseeable future, both organisations agreed that one of the keys to an economic bounce-back would be the ability for businesses to diversify and deliver their products and services through an online presence.

The aim of the course was to give people the basic skills and understanding of digital marketing and the value of a successful online presence.

Brett Jacobson, Chief Executive Officer at Mediaworks, said: “This course was designed for businesses, professionals, graduates, marketers, and workers from all backgrounds who had been affected by the recent pandemic. As lockdown restrictions begin to lift and we return to operating in what has been labelled as the new normal, it’s key that we give people the skills to deliver products and services across both online and offline channels. Those skills will give people the ability to overcome the challenges that social distancing presents so that we are prepared to continue to operate and grow our businesses in the face of any future disruption.

“The attraction of the course across all channels has been above and beyond what we expected. We received applications from a wide range of people, from Managing Directors, furloughed workers, students, and people looking to re-skill. Following traction from our social media channels we were also pleased to see interest from as far afield as Denver, Melbourne, and Singapore.”

Bob Gammie, Dean of the York Business School, said: “We are blown away with the volume of applicants we have received for this short course. Over 2,500 learners applying in 10 days is a record number. Working collaboratively with a marketing agency such as Mediaworks has shown the power of reach you can achieve in such a short time with the right marketing, high quality learning, and innovative delivery models that combine to provide open and meaningful learning experiences.”

With the overwhelming success of the digital marketing short course, Mediaworks and York St John University will be hosting further short courses over the next 12 months.

More information about the short course and MSc can be found at the official https://digital.yorksj.ac.uk/ website.