Research suggests three-quarters of housing association homes meet EPC C or better

The voluntary SRS was launched in 2020 and is overseen by Sustainability for Housing (SfH). It has been adopted by 130 housing providers and funders, including Legal & General, M&G, Schroders, Lloyds and NatWest.

Around 100,000 homes in the UK were improved to meet EPC C or better in 2023-24, according to data company Housemark, which published the report in partnership with SfH. This means it would take another 13-14 years to move all social homes to EPC C or better.

Based on 50 housing providers that have reported for three consecutive years, the report found that the energy efficiency of social homes is improving, with the proportion of homes rated EPC C or higher rising from 69.3% in 2022 to 74.7% in 2024, a 5.5% increase over three years, totalling 1.6 million homes.

There were 9.4% EPC A new-build portfolios in 2024 – up from 6.8% in 2023 and 3.7% in 2022. The overall proportion of new homes achieving EPC A has risen year on year, from 2.1% in 2022 to 9.5% in 2024.

Of the 35,800 homes delivered in 2022-24 by the reporting housing providers, low-cost homeownership and affordable rent achieved the greatest allocation (29%), followed by social rent (24%).

For the 50 repeat reporters, the proportion of new homes delivered as social rent has also increased, rising from 17% in 2022 to 28% in 2024. Social rent in new-build portfolios has risen from 19% to 27% over the same period.

Homes meeting the national housing quality standard have increased from 97.2% in 2022 to 99.9% in 2024.

Homes with damp and mould accounted for an average of 7% of each housing provider’s total housing stock. This is above the RSH’s 2023 damp survey estimate of 3%-4% of housing stock.

An average of 24.4 complaints were made to the ombudsman per housing provider, which is an increase from 7.7% in 2022 to 9.3% in 2023.

On measuring sustainability data, the report said there was no single “best” method, and housing providers had adopted different approaches, depending on their size, available data and capacity.

It also said that while housing provider resources were being stretched, simplifying and standardising methodologies, particularly data collection and reporting activities, were very important.

In a survey of 46 housing providers, 82% said that their SRS reports were reviewed and approved by board and audit and risk committees this year. This is an almost 10% year-on-year increase.

A total of 40% of housing providers agreed that reporting against the SRS resulted in a change of strategy or culture within their organisation – up from 31% in 2023. Over a third of housing providers believed that the SRS strengthened their relationships with current or new funders.

The survey also showed that 80% of funders thought reporting against the SRS had improved housing providers’ ESG performance and accountability.

A total of 80% of funders said the SRS had led to the provision of better and more useful information regarding assessing the ESG performance of the sector, up from 56% last year.

This year’s review was the first since SfH rolled out version 2.0 of the SRS, which was mapped onto global reporting standards and frameworks, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

Piers Williamson, chair of SfH, said: “We know there are multiple challenges and financial pressures bearing down on housing associations and their residents, but we also know that sustainability is about the well-being of people living in social housing, as much as it is about the climate emergency.

“The SRS enables housing providers, and its stakeholders, to assess ESG progress and performance in a way that few other sectors or industries do.

“It is also promoting a granularity, consistency and comparability of reporting and disclosure that didn’t exist previously in this sector. So we’d encourage all housing associations out there to stay the course and continue to tell your story in this evidence-based way.”