The government claims that social housing tenants could save as much as £400 a year on their energy bills after it awarded £75 million from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund towards free upgrades to tenants’ homes, including insulation, double glazing and the installation of heat pumps

Secretary of State for Energy Security Claire Coutinho said the scheme is already working to reach around 100,000 households.

Funding will be available to 42 councils and housing associations across England to install energy saving measures in social homes, while supporting 1,300 jobs in the UK’s retrofit industry.

This funding will help some of the lowest income households by delivering warm and energy efficient homes, lifting people out of fuel poverty and improving the comfort and wellbeing of social housing tenants, the government says.

Almost half of all homes in England are now rated Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C or above, up from 14% in 2010.

Claire Coutinho said: “Our Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund 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.

“This funding today will help up to a further 8,800 households save around £400 a year on their energy bills.”

The Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, Lord Callanan, said: “Already working to deliver free home upgrades to around 100,000 social homes, the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is helping low-income families have cheaper bills and a warmer home.

“We’re now going even further to cut energy bills for more social tenants, all while supporting an additional 1,300 jobs in the UK’s retrofit industry.”

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund has already allocated over £1 billion since 2019, with projects including:

  • Durham County Council, which previously received over £5m to upgrade around 1,300 homes
  • Manchester City Council and One Manchester, which was previously awarded around £3m to help install external wall insulation and air-source heat pumps.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “Housing associations play a crucial role in helping the country to meet its net zero targets and are already leading the way on energy efficiency, but funding is essential for maintaining this work.

“The sector is committed to providing energy efficient and comfortable homes for their residents that are affordable to heat, and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is key to enabling them to do so; I’ve seen first-hand the difference it has made.

“The funding announced today 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.”