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There are approximately four million socially rented homes across the UK, serving the needs of more than six million people. Domestic use of fossil fuels makes up 21% of England’s carbon emissions, with social housing contributing 10% of this, according to the National Housing Federation.
Housing associations are well placed therefore to make a substantial impact on the climate and net-zero agenda.
Lincolnshire Housing Partnership (LHP) owns 12,000 properties across Lincolnshire, providing homes for more than 20,000 customers. Since it first calculated its carbon footprint based on the 2019-20 financial year, the organisation has taken big steps to increase understanding of its environmental impact. These learnings have already been used to facilitate real action on the ground.
The homes account for over 90% of LHP’s total carbon footprint, making this the area where we can have the biggest impact. The organisation has a target for all its homes to be rated EPC C by or before 2030, alongside the goal to be net zero by 2050; and retrofit projects are a vital part of these ambitions.
In partnership with E.ON Energy Solutions, LHP secured £8m through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which it then match-funded. With £16m in the pot, the aim is to install external wall insulation in 733 homes and air source heat pumps at a further 82 properties. As of July 2024, 312 properties have received energy efficiency upgrades, creating warmer, aesthetically pleasing homes across the region.
In addition, the housing partnership has installed a range of cavity wall insulation, loft insulation top-ups and solar panels as well as upgraded heating systems in more than 500 properties over the past financial year.
It is estimated that 18.4% of social housing tenants live in fuel poverty, so energy efficiency upgrades are a significant priority for LHP.
To establish a strong stance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) across the organisation, and to encourage transparency and accountability across its sustainability work, LHP is an official adopter of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing. Designed specifically for the sector, the framework encourages consistency in the reporting of ESG progress, providing stakeholders with a useful overview of where housing associations are when it comes to sustainability, particularly when social landlords start to explore sustainability-linked loans.
LHP has launched an ESG framework, which aims to simplify the language surrounding the ESG agenda, introducing three core outcomes that our projects will work towards:
Vibrant places: empowered and engaged customers and colleagues
Greener spaces: sustainable communities that are green and healthy
Futureproof homes: warm, energy-efficient homes for our customers.
The sector still needs to adopt a neighbourhood-based approach when it comes to sustainability, particularly when looking at retrofit projects. This work should then be considered alongside other enhancements such as sustainable drainage systems and transport links, creating green, sustainable communities, rather than a patchwork of sustainable homes spread around the neighbourhood.
During a session with Realise Earth earlier this year, one of the participants emphasised the need for businesses to have courage when it comes to net-zero delivery. It made me reflect on the significant impact ambitious and driven colleagues have had on our progress.
Solitaire Townsend’s book The Solutionists: How Businesses Can Fix the Future explores this concept further, highlighting how the motivated, change-making mindset of a few individuals can have a domino effect across a larger system.
Despite the challenges faced by the social housing sector, we are fortunate to be at the heart of communities across the UK. Our connection to local people and the issues they face provides a bridge to facilitate real, meaningful change
to individuals and their wider neighbourhoods. If we can continue to demonstrate ambition across effective retrofit projects and couple this with efforts to improve our green spaces and social value, we have the opportunity to all be solutionists within our work every day.
Libby Kerman is sustainability manager at Lincolnshire Housing Partnership
