Manchester Council to approve funding to deliver landmark £60m energy efficiency programme

A report going to a meeting of the full Council (Weds 12 July) will seek approval for the final funding required to deliver the largest sustainable homes investment programme in the city’s history over the next 2years.

More than 2,100 Manchester homes are set to receive energy efficiency works - alongside wider home upgrades as part of the city’s target to become net zero carbon by 2038, while improving the health of residents and reducing the cost of running Manchester homes.

The Council has already successfully bid for two major funding pots from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), with one of the bids (Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund) being part of a consortia bid by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) £49.7m will be invested in 1,603 Council-owned homes to improve sustainability through a range of works, which include better property and roof insulation, solar paneling, new boilers or heating systems, and air and ground heat pumps

This includes £11.6m from DESNZ’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and a £38m contribution from the Council’s capital programme. At the same time, part of this funding will be also used to deliver a range of decent homes investments in the same properties, including building safety and fire safety work, to limit disruption to the residents while work is taking place.

Currently, the grant funding is limited to properties rated EPC D or below with the expectation that the measures will improve most properties to EPC C rating - and to EPC B in some cases. The Council’s Housing Strategy that was agreed last year looks to retrofit a third of all social housing in the city to become EPC band B by 2032 as part of the journey to become a net zero carbon city by 2032.

Manchester has a high number of social homes compared to similar cities. Around 70,000 homes are for social rent and of these, circa 16,000 are owned by the Council. The Council’s Housing Services team is leading the way in this work with a plan to retrofit 60 per cent of the Council-owned properties by 2032.

The Council is committed to reducing the carbon impact of the city and will need to navigate a range of major challenges to meet these targets.

Manchester’s homes are dominated by pre-war and mid-century homes with a high number of uninsulated homes and low levels of roof insulation. Gas heating is also the most common heating system in 80 per cent of our homes with new technologies such as heat pumps representing around only 2 per cent of the housing stock.

The Council also offers interest free loans of up to £10,000 (administration fee payable) through the Home Energy Loan Plan (HELP) to help fund sustainable energy investment mainly aimed at older people or those being discharged from hospital where poor quality heating might be a barrier to returning home.

A Warm Homes Manchester scheme will access some £150m of available national funding. This will help to install low carbon central heating and improve insulation for an initial 50 homes.

Together with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the Council are also working with organisations to maximise and deliver energy improvements to low-income eligible households under the government’s Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) scheme.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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