Affordable housing provider believe housing has completed a £5m project to make 1,100 homes warmer, greener, and cheaper to run … and a second, even bigger scheme is about to get underway.
The County Durham-based housing association will work with contractor RE:GEN Group to upgrade the energy efficiency of at least 2,000 further properties in the next two years. Funding towards the scheme was secured from the second wave of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and matched by believe housing.
“Through this £13.7m scheme we’ll make homes warmer and healthier for customers, save them money on their energy bills, reduce our properties’ carbon footprint, and support the green economy and jobs,” explains Ruth Dent, Director of Assets and Compliance at believe housing. “It comes hot on the heels of our hugely successful scheme to upgrade more than 1,100 homes, which was part-funded from the first wave of the SHDF.
“Working with RE:GEN Group, we did what we set out to do and delivered light-touch measures at scale, with the bonus of using 100% local labour. Customers tell us the work caused little disruption and they can feel the benefits in their home and on their energy bills.
“Retrofitting homes will have a significant role in helping the UK reach net zero by 2050 and we’re pleased to continue playing our part.”
believe housing worked with a Durham County Council-led consortium to secure funding from the first wave of SHDF last spring.
It was then part of a North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub consortium, led by Tees Valley Combined Authority, which recently attracted a total of £32.4m from wave 2.1 of the SHDF towards £80m of works across the wider region.
As before, the scheme of works will focus on homes with an Energy Performance Certificate rating below C, which will most benefit from the work. About half will get measures similar to those completed in wave 1 including loft and cavity wall insulation, ventilation, heating controls, and energy-efficient lighting. Others will get more extensive measures such as external wall insulation, floor insulation, and solar panels to generate clean electricity.
Lee Francis, CEO of RE:GEN Group, said: “We’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with the team at believe housing. We know how important these works are and the real impact they can and are having on people’s lives. Our teams delivered £9.5m worth of decarbonisation works in the last eight months and will deliver £20m over the next 20 months.
“We’re at the forefront of driving sustainability improvements to social housing across the North East but none of this would be possible without the incredible support of our clients like believe housing and our supply chain partners.”
A programme of energy efficiency works by believe housing will make sure all its homes have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above by 2030, with those most in need upgraded first.
Header image: Ruth Dent, Director of Assets and Compliance at believe housing.
