Successful bidders revealed for Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2.2

The councils were followed by Populo Living on behalf of the London Borough of Newham, with £3.83m, Uttlesford District Council with £3.8m and Enfield Council with £3.46m.

Other London boroughs included Barking and Dagenham, which received £1.03m, Haringey with £1.76m, Hillingdon with £2.76m and Lambeth with £2.49m.

Housing associations with the biggest allocations from the latest wave included Gentoo (£2.86m), Richmond Housing Partnership (£2.62m), Ongo (£2.27m) and Shepherds Bush Housing Group (£2.24m).

It could be argued that some of this new grant had, in fact, been committed already. Barking and Dagenham, Haringey, Gentoo, Thurrock and Enfield were all successful in previous waves of the SHDF, but had to return funding last year due to complications with projects and budget constraints.

The returned funds were revealed in an Inside Housing investigation, which found that councils gave a total of £6.4m from earlier waves of the fund back to the government last year.

Among the Wave 2.2 allocations, a consortium of large landlord Places for People, Reading Council and Paradigm Housing received £1.7m to improve 256 homes across Huntingdonshire.

Tim Weightman, chief investment officer of Places for People, said: “With robust asset data, clear delivery plans, and experienced supply chain partners, we are confident this project will improve the homes and customers’ well-being and deliver wider social value.”

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said the funding “will give housing associations the certainty and confidence they need to plan and deliver more retrofit projects, tackle fuel poverty, and improve their residents’ homes”.

Tracy Harrison, chief executive of the Northern Housing Consortium, said: “I’m delighted to see continued government support for SHDF, with Wave 2.2 helping to support a number of smaller housing associations. This is vital funding to complement the investment our members are making to deliver more green home upgrades, to help residents with lower bills and warmer homes.”

Smaller providers allocated funding in Wave 2.2 included Birnbeck Housing Association (£52,000), Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing (£812,000) and the Cambridge Housing Society (£949,000).

According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the improvements will save households an average of £400 a year on their energy bills.

Claire Coutinho, secretary of state for energy security, said: “Our SHDF is helping families to keep their homes warm and their bills down. We want to support hard-working families to make changes, rather than burdening them with unnecessary costs.”

The SHDF was launched in 2020 as a demonstrator scheme, with £61m allocated to councils to retrofit more than 2,100 social homes to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of Band C or higher.

Wave 1 of the fund, launched in August 2021, offered £179m to landlords bidding as part of a council-led consortium.

Wave 2.2, announced in October 2023, is a top-up to the £778m funding for Wave 2.1 announced in March 2023, which is currently in delivery.

The SHDF was allocated a further £1.25bn in December 2023 for 2025-26 to 2027-28.