CIH welcomes minimum energy efficiency standards and the opening of applications for social housing retrofit scheme

The government has announced that Wave 3 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and a new local authority retrofit scheme will be opening for applications.

Both schemes, which have respectively been renamed the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and the Warm Homes: Local Grant, will provide funding to registered providers of social housing and local authorities to tackle fuel poverty and improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The Social Housing Fund will open on 30 September 2024, while an expression of interest window is expected to open in October 2024 for the Local Grant.

The government has also announced that it will consult on a new minimum energy efficiency standard for the private and social rented sectors before the end of year.

Responding to the news, Rachael Williamson, head of policy and external affairs at CIH, commented: “Warm, safe homes are one of the building blocks of health and wellbeing, but some homes are still too difficult to keep warm in the winter.

"It is hugely welcome that government have confirmed the continuation of these retrofit schemes, something that CIH had called for in our submission to the autumn budget. The funding will enable social housing providers to continue their work tackling fuel poverty, and some small tweaks made to the schemes, especially to the grant funding profile in the Social Housing Fund, will help to accelerate delivery in the coming years.

“CIH has also long called for the introduction of minimum energy efficiency standards in the rented sectors, especially in the private rented sector, where residents are too often exposed to unaffordable energy bills.

"We look forward to responding to the consultation, and working with our members to ensure the proposals provide a strong regulatory framework for eliminating fuel poverty.”

We will share more information with our members over the coming weeks, and members can email policyandpractice@cih.org with any questions about the announcements.