Step in the right direction

This article highlighted the work that social landlords do on cutting carbon emissions through the provision of more sustainable housing. It included a call from our campaign partner, the Chartered Institute of Housing, for the government to introduce a long-term programme to tackle the energy inefficiency of older housing.

Imagine our delight then when, this Tuesday, government ministers unveiled their ‘warm homes, greener homes’ plan, which includes a ‘warm homes’ standard for English social housing aimed at cutting carbon emissions from all homes by 29 per cent by 2020. Coincidence? Well, probably, but on the face of it, this £19 billion strategy is a huge shot in the arm for the housing and construction sectors. It may be spookily familiar to anyone who read the Conservative ‘low carbon economy’ paper last year, but that can only be a good thing as it means it should survive the upcoming general election.

So, the battle for political will seems to have been won. The sting in the tail of this news is that there is no pledge of government funds attached. Given the size of the financial black hole the UK is currently facing this is not entirely surprising. Accordingly, two-thirds of the government-estimated £19 billion burden will be borne by energy companies through a new obligation on them to continue to cut carbon emissions. This principle has been long-established via the ‘carbon emission reduction target’ or CERT process. However, it remains to be seen whether British Gas, Npower et al will be willing to stump up the £12.7 billion or so that the government would like by 2020. The ‘pay as you save’ scheme proposed to raise the bulk of the balance of the £19 billion sounds more subtle and, vitally, more dependable.

Almost three-quarters of social landlords told a survey Inside Housing recently ran with manufacturer H+H that, without a decent homes mark two, the sector would not be able to make the energy efficiency improvements the government desires. The warm homes standard might not come with a guarantee of the billions of pounds enjoyed by its decent homes predecessor, but, in the circumstances, it is the next best thing.

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