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Bringing residents with us on the journey to net zero-carbon

Social landlords are heading towards decarbonisation of homes, but this may involve difficult conversations with tenants if some homes need to be replaced, warns Jonathan Higgs

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Some homes will need to be replaced, rather than repaired, to be fully decarbonised (picture: Getty)
Some homes will need to be replaced, rather than repaired, to be fully decarbonised (picture: Getty)
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Bringing residents with us on the journey to net zero-carbon - Jonathan Higgs from @RavenHT #UKHousing

“We will need a far more proactive (my board didn’t like the word aggressive) approach to asset management delivering replacement – rather than repair – of existing homes,” says Jonathan Higgs, CEO of @RavenHT #UKHousing

“This is a conversation with residents that won’t just be about the pros and cons of technology and the disruption of installation, but potentially about the loss of their homes – perhaps homes that they love,” says Jonathan Higgs, @RavenHT #UKHousing

The good thing about a Social Housing White Paper that takes two years to produce is most of the changes it sets out are already well underway. Once you get passed the prime minister using the words “social housing” and “scandal” in the same paragraph, there is not much in this agenda that the sector could or should take issue with.

“We will need a far more proactive (my board didn’t like the word aggressive) approach to asset management delivering replacement – rather than repair – of existing homes”

What the Charter for Social Housing Residents (to give it its proper title) does well is to frame the challenge that housing providers have to deliver: quality homes fit for the future. As we all seek to make our best estimates to take our homes to net zero-carbon by 2050 – for Raven around £20,000 per home – and second-guess what the expected new Decent Homes Standard might require, we will be casting a far more critical eye over which of our current homes we can upgrade and which it makes more sense to replace.


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I suspect we have all sold the odd property or delivered a flagship regeneration scheme over the years – ours at Raven has taken 10 years (and still counting). What we face now will be different in scale and character to what has gone before.

We will need a far more proactive (my board didn’t like the word aggressive) approach to asset management delivering replacement – rather than repair – of existing homes at a rate three to four times what we are accustomed to.

“This is a conversation with residents that won’t just be about the pros and cons of technology and the disruption of installation, but potentially about the loss of their homes – perhaps homes that they love”

This offers a huge opportunity to regenerate our neighbourhoods and is almost certainly a new challenge for our development teams as the distinction between good asset management and development (usefully) blurs.

And if we needed any reminding, the charter also points out that these assets are people’s homes. The sector has a massive task taking our residents with us on our zero-carbon journey, something I know PlaceShapers and TPAS are already working together to explore. And this is a conversation with residents that won’t just be about the pros and cons of technology and the disruption of installation, but potentially about the loss of their homes – perhaps homes that they love.

This is not a conversation that can be rushed and it is one that is likely to also involve our local authority partners. In the context of the transparency and accountability demanded by the charter, it is going to be one of the most important conversations of the next decade – and one we need to start now.

Jonathan Higgs, chief executive, Raven Housing Trust

 

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