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Scottish government announces £3.5m fund for decarbonising social housing
The Scottish government will establish a decarbonisation fund of £3.5m for social landlords looking to increase fuel efficiency, the communities secretary has revealed.
Aileen Campbell announced the new fund while speaking at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations’ (SFHA) annual conference on Wednesday.
The money is intended to be spent on measures such as insulation and internal improvements to social housing.
To receive the funding, a social landlord must be able to show that it is taking action to reduce a building’s carbon footprint – for example, by installing ground source heat pumps or generating energy from organic material and solar panels.
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The announcement came as the Scottish parliament unanimously passed a bill to support people who struggle to pay their fuel bills.
The bill sets a target to reduce the proportion of households living in fuel poverty to 5% by 2040.
Ms Campbell told the conference: “Social landlords are already making good progress towards achieving the energy efficiency standard for social housing milestone that’s set for 2020. The Scottish Housing Regulator reports that 80% of social rented homes are already meeting the 2020 milestone, with forward plans predicting 97% compliance by 2020.
“Today, I’m pleased to announce that we will be offering a second £3.5m decarbonisation fund to help social landlords meet the targets, to help us all address fuel poverty.”
The percentage of people in extreme fuel poverty rose last month from 7% to 11.9%, after the Scottish government changed the way it defines fuel poverty.
In the wake of this increase, the SFHA called on the government to provide further funding to deal with fuel poverty, which Ms Campbell agreed to at the conference.
In response to the funding announcement, SFHA chief executive Sally Thomas said: “The SFHA has been calling for additional support for social landlords to reduce fuel poverty and increase energy efficiency. We are pleased that the Scottish government has announced this £3.5m and hope it is the first step towards permanent funding.
“A recent survey by SFHA reported a 73% increase in tenants at risk of or experiencing fuel poverty, with welfare reform given as one of the main causes. Addressing energy efficiency alone will not be enough to eradicate fuel poverty, and we will keep lobbying the UK government to raise social security in line with inflation to ensure no one has to choose between heating or eating.”
