We are urging local authorities and social housing landlords to apply for a proportion of the £3.8bn of funding available via the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) to maximise grant opportunities to achieve the fund aims to deliver energy efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills whilst tackling fuel poverty.
The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, offers valuable funding to landlords seeking to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock. However, it’s important that authorities carefully consider how this funding can be maximised.
The inclusion of solar PV, which can be potentially used as part of a fabric first approach, offers an important way of doing this. Not only may it contribute towards improving a property’s overall EPC rating, but will also serve to combat fuel poverty for tenants. Local authorities can also maximise their planned maintenance budgets with the inclusion of an integrated solar PV solution.
1) Solar PV is covered under the SHDF, so authorities should consider how they can use this to make any funding allocated go further. With integrated solar PV panels, replacing a section of the roof, authorities can reapportion this planned maintenance budget to other properties in their housing stock.
2) Inclusion of solar PV may generate additional points which can be used towards a property’s EPC rating, which is the primary objective of the SHDF.
3) Housing providers should look to manufacturers to provide detailed evidence of the low carbon or renewable technologies they outline in their application.