Government announces £179m for energy efficiency upgrades to social housing

A recent press release from the UK government has announced that new funding will be made available to improve the energy efficiency of 20,000 social housing properties across England.

A reported £179m will be specifically made available for these green upgrades and will come as part of the £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund – a fund that’s aiming to ‘bring a significant amount of the social housing stock currently below EPC C up to a higher standard’.

The improvements will apparently all be completed by the end of March 2023 and will hopefully bring help to thousands of lower income and vulnerable households who are being hit hardest by rising energy bills.

The funding will be released in waves

The support will be released in waves and 69 projects have now been allocated as part of the first. The funding will be released to these local authorities who will work with social housing providers to roll out the upgrades.

It’s believed that the least energy efficient homes will be the first to receive support and could see features installed like new insulation, double-glazing, solar panels and heat pumps. The government has also said that the work won’t just reduce heat loss, it will futureproof properties against efficiency issues in the long term.

A number of sector sources were full of praise for the support, Kate Henderson, the National Housing Federation Chief Executive, offered these comments:

"We warmly welcome the announcement of the first Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund recipients. Alongside helping us to achieve our crucial net zero target, this will mean warmer, more comfortable homes for social housing residents, and importantly help to protect them from rising energy bills.

"Housing associations are committed to working with government to upgrade the nation’s social housing stock, and this fund will play a vital role in this."

Another positive to the projects is that they will also boost green jobs, with 9,000 new roles in the sector expected. The government also claims the funding will ‘deliver carbon emissions savings equivalent to taking up to 6,000 cars off the road in any given year’.

How you can find out more

Those living in social housing may want to contact their respective local authorities to find out if and when they’re set to receive help improving their property. Such support could prove invaluable as the continuing energy crisis, rises to the energy price cap and soaring bills are making things much harder for millions of consumers.

Those who are struggling with their energy bills who aren’t eligible for this new funding may want to read our recent recap of MoneySavingExpert’s guidance around what other help is available right now from the government. 

We’ve also detailed some energy saving advice to help bring costs down, as it’s still not advised to run an energy comparison and switch to a fixed tariff. This is because not even the best energy deals from the best energy suppliers can beat the current and upcoming standard variable tariff set by Ofgem’s energy price cap.