£338 million decarbonisation boost for housing in the North

| |by

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced the successful bids from Wave 2.1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) for successful local authorities and providers of social housing to install energy efficiency upgrades in their housing stock.

£778 million has been offered to 107 projects for Wave 2.1 of the SHDF, with just over £184 million going to Northern regions. This represents 23.7% of total funding going to the North.

All successful bids can be seen here and the regional breakdown for the North is:

  • North West: £105.3 million
  • North East: £29.3 million
  • Yorkshire & the Humber: £50 million

 

NHC Chief Executive Tracy Harrison said:

“This latest wave of funding adds to the momentum already built around green home upgrades in the North.

Retrofitting homes towards net zero is a key priority for councils and housing associations across the North. Our members want to continue to scale their activity to support the development of the supply chain, and to deliver good, green jobs.

We were delighted to see even more ambitious partnership bids submitted to this Wave – an approach which we hope to see followed through in delivery. But most importantly, these successful projects will help create warmer homes and improve the physical and mental health of people in our communities.”

 

The Government has said that around 90,000 homes are expected to be upgraded under the scheme and funding will support around 13,000 jobs annually in the green energy sector, creating the conditions for growth in the retrofit supply chain and boosting productivity and innovation in the construction sector.

We know that upgrading the North’s homes will reduce carbon emissions and help to achieve net zero targets, alleviate fuel poverty during a cost-of-living crisis, and bring new skills and jobs to the region, and we will continue to work with our members to support them to deliver for people and communities across the North.

We are delighted to see many NHC members being awarded funding to complete energy efficiency upgrades on their homes rated below EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) C rating – including Together Housing Association, which has been awarded £9.5 million from Wave 2.1 of the fund.

It’s also great to see Combined Authorities awarded large grants. Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has been awarded £37 million – one of the largest grants awarded in SHDF funding. This will go to multiple NHC members in the Greater Manchester Housing Providers group, who submitted their bid as a consortia through the GMCA. Other Northern Combined Authorities (CA) have received funding for their consortia bids including Tees Valley CA (£32.4m), Liverpool City Region CA (£31.7m) and West Yorkshire CA (£14.7m).

Congratulations to all of NHC members who have secured investment from this wave of funding.

Today, DESNZ also announced £630 million of funding awarded under the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) Phase 2, which will go to local authorities to provide energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating to households in England that are low income, off the gas grid or have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) between D and G.

The full list of successful local authorities under the HUG Phase 2 is here.

The regional breakdown for the North is:

  • North West: £83.8 million
  • North East: £28.5 million
  • Yorkshire & the Humber: £41.1 million