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Tim Weightman is chief investment officer at Places for People
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund: the sector must pull together to transform housing
We must look at communities as a whole, rather than just the homes we own, to deliver the best outcome for people and the climate, writes Tim Weightman
At Places for People, we have support available for those struggling right now. We’re also investing in energy improvements to our customers’ homes, including two projects underway using the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
But it’s clear that we need a long-term solution to make more affordable homes more energy efficient quickly.
Because, as well as energy costs contributing to the financial pressures people are facing, climate change is already happening and, with the built environment contributing over 40% to the UK’s emissions, neither this nor fuel poverty can be ignored any longer.
There are solutions, but as a sector we need to work smarter and be more joined up. We need to look to other partners, for example those in local government and public health, to work with us.
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We have had 16 housing ministers in the past 13 years (and seven since 2022) and the constant uncertainty means those of us with a responsibility for communities and places must seize control of this issue ourselves.
We hope that the next wave of funding for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund will be announced in the Autumn Statement on 22 November, and that this provides us with an invaluable opportunity to retrofit more homes so they are not reliant on carbon to heat and bills are lower as a result.
“There are solutions, but as a sector we need to work smarter and be more joined up”
Given how important this funding is, doesn’t it make sense for us to try and squeeze the value from every single penny? Because this funding isn’t about our individual organisations improving their own stock’s energy efficiency, this is about transforming affordable housing to give people a better quality of life and to reduce our carbon footprint, which benefits our society.
We are still learning, but across the sector there is now significant insight and experience on how to get this right – from technical retrofit to how to engage with communities. Some big challenges remain, not least how we tackle mixed-tenure communities, homes in conservation areas and clean heat, but we can and should work together to innovate and overcome these.
So my call to the whole of the affordable housing sector and others with a role in local housing delivery is to work together to make a bigger difference this time round. We must look at communities as a whole, rather than just the homes we own, through joint projects that transform places and the lives of those living there.
Not only does this deliver the best outcomes, but it allows organisations to share and combine efforts and skills in what we know is an ever-developing area of work – and that means this vital funding can go further.
“Given how important this funding is, doesn’t it make sense for us to try and squeeze the value from every single penny?”
An energy-efficient home is life-changing for someone in our more deprived communities and for those who are most vulnerable. Reduced bills in the current economic climate can help prevent heartbreaking choices, such as food over warmth.
At Places for People, we launched the Future Homes Consortium, which brings housing organisations from across the country together so we can tackle the key issues facing our sector as one. Please contact us if you would be interested in joining so we can put customers and communities at the heart of the changes needed.
It’s a worthy goal that we all want to retrofit the homes of our own customers, but there is a bigger prize beyond our individual organisations and individual strategies.
The sector is a crucial player here and we, as organisations, are stronger together.
Tim Weightman, chief investment officer, Places for People
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