Today (21 June 2023) sees the launch of the Northern Housing Consortium’s Real Homes, Real Change showcase in the House of Commons, which celebrates some of the great work that northern housing providers have already delivered to help meet the net zero challenge in the North.
Real Homes, Real Change showcases a wide range of projects – from transforming whole neighbourhoods of multi-tenure housing in Leeds, to installing Air Source Heat Pumps in off-gas areas in Northumberland. The projects span different geographies, tenures, housing type and technologies to demonstrate the momentum that’s building across the North.
The North’s social housing sector manages more than 1 in 6 of the region’s homes, and investment from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) has helped landlords make their investments go further.
But the Northern Housing Consortium is concerned that this progress is at risk without fresh funding commitments. The NHC is calling on both the government and opposition parties to commit to a £6bn a year investment in home energy efficiency across all tenures in the next Parliament.
Tracy Harrison, Northern Housing Consortium, CEO, said:
“It’s clear the UK can’t meet its net zero target without upgrading the North’s existing homes. We know that over half the North’s homes, almost 4 million, will require energy efficiency upgrades within the next 10 years. But the government’s current decarbonisation funding has now all been allocated, which means the cupboard is currently bare.
“The housing sector in the North is playing its part in helping reach net zero, but without a long-term funding commitment from Westminster it risks losing the fantastic momentum that’s been built.
“We also know these upgrades can make homes warmer and cheaper to heat. Plus there’s the potential for 77,000 good green jobs across the North working on green home upgrades by the 2030s, so we can’t delay we need to get on with this today for Real Homes, Real Change and Real Jobs.
Broadacres resident Mrs Smith said:
“My old heating system was so expensive so until the heat pump was installed, I used a log burner and had to keep all the doors in the house open to try to circulate the heat.
“The heat pump is brilliant because it provides a nice source of affordable heat throughout the whole home.”
The Northern Housing Consortium is adding more Northern projects to its Real Homes, Real Change showcase, and speaking to politicians of all parties to make the case for further investment over the coming months. If NHC members would like to add their project to the showcase contact Joseph Bews, Policy & Public Affairs Support Officer joseph.bews@northern-consortium.org.uk.
Download the PDF HERE
