Social housing report uncovers gulf in knowledge of net zero
A new report has revealed a gulf between tenants’ concerns over climate change and their understanding of the concept of reaching net zero.
A study conducted by Orbit Homes and the Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) found that although almost three-quarters of social housing residents thought that climate change was already impacting their lives, only 40% who had heard of zero carbon understood what it meant.
Almost a fifth (17%) had never heard of the phrase zero carbon, the survey found.
The study follows on from a recent poll by Home Group and YouGov which found that nearly two-thirds of housing residents had never heard of net zero.
The new report revealed that almost four-fifths of the people polled were concerned about climate change.
The research also gave insight into how much the average social housing tenant spends on heating their home. More than half of tenants spent more than 10% on their take-home pay on energy bills, more than double the UK average spend, and a quarter had gone without heating in the past year mainly to save on costs.
More than half of those surveyed (57%) had swapped energy provider in recent years.
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Paul Richards, group director of customer and communities at Orbit, said: “There are difficult and complex environmental challenges that face us all in accelerating the decarbonisation of UK homes, but to date there has been little consideration of what the impact is for customers.
“Any plan to retrofit properties should and must reflect the daily priorities of lower-income households – we don’t want to further pressure customers into a position where they must choose between whether to heat or eat as a result of decarbonisation.
“Our research demonstrates that it is essential to build an ongoing rapport with customers on this agenda, and to undertake further work to understand the short and long-term plans and associated costs of moving to net zero carbon, including shaping future policies for energy pricing.”
James Prestwich, director of policy and external affairs at the CIH, added: “Reaching net zero by 2050 will not happen unless landlords and tenants work together to drive the systemic and behavioural changes required. “Tenants will be looking to their housing providers for answers on how new technologies will operate and benefit them within their home and help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
He added that the report highlighted the “importance of genuine collaboration and co-operation between landlords and tenants”.
Social housing landlords are facing major costs to make homes more energy efficient. The government has promised £3.8bn as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which was reaffirmed last week by housing minister Christopher Pincher at the CIH’s Housing 2021 conference in Manchester.
