Government awarded £9m grant to retrofit 1,000 homes

A leading UK housing association has received their largest ever government grant to help them retrofit over 1,000 homes. 

Sovereign Housing Association, a leading UK housing organisation that strives to provide good quality affordable properties, announced yesterday that they have been awarded over £9m by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) to add to their existing £22.5m improvement strategy that is designed to assist 1,000 properties.

The funding given by the government is part of the 2019 Conservative Manifesto commitment to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social rented properties.

SHDF’s main objectives are to deliver warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills, tackle fuel poverty and support the growth of green job availability.

In addition, Sovereign’s SHDF proposals accord with the listed objectives as the organisation also has plans to decarbonise and retrofit the 61,000 homes they have produced and map a pathway to net zero by 2050.

After announcing they have been granted the funding yesterday, the housing association are now meeting with customers to get the project started – Resident Liaison Officers and retrofit teams are set to work closely with customers.

Home improvement retrofit measures have been individually assessed and tailored for each home and follow a fabric-first approach which includes wall insulation, heat pumps, battery storage, solar panels and ‘smart’ home controls. When combined, these measures will deliver an enhanced energy efficiency rating and help customers pay less for their energy bills.

Supported by Sero – a company that provides digital solutions for planning, funding and operating homes – Sovereign are set to launch the first steps of the their project which includes surveying homes – each property will be given a ‘passport’ that records all the retrofit measures needed to achieve net zero.

Mark Washer, CEO of Sovereign, said: ‘I am delighted that our very ambitious bid has been successful and that we can now start using SHDF funding to improve our customers’ homes, making them greener and cheaper to run.

‘At a time when people are struggling to pay their bills and when the quality of social housing is under scrutiny, Sovereign is leading the way in upgrading [homes] to make them warmer, more efficient and set them on a journey to net zero.’

Image: James Kovin