Partnership working has played a vital role in helping tackle the retrofit challenges involved in delivering net zero carbon goals, says Livv Housing Group
Collaboration is evidently working a treat for Livv Housing Group and its partners operating in the Liverpool City Region; certainly when it comes to crunching the carbon.
Back in 2018, Livv made its core Net Zero Carbon (NZC) commitment to bring every single one of its existing homes up to EPC C by 2025 – five years ahead of the government’s target.
By all accounts, the 13,000 home housing association is on track to achieve this, with 90% of its stock now at EPC C, it says.
Much of the organisation’s housing stock dates from the 1920s to the 1940s, inherited from the large-scale voluntary stock transfer (LSVT) that originated Livv in 2002. A challenge, then, given the age of these properties.
However, according to Livv, NZC best practice and innovation, alongside proactive capital planning, has meant that six years on, the organisation has results that demonstrate the possibilities of retrofit delivery at scale.
Indeed, Livv’s net zero story is regarded as a clear demonstration of what has been achieved for residents through Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 1 and Wave 2 funding.
Tony Cahill, Livv’s executive director of property, said: “As part of Wave 1 alone, we invested a combined total of £6m on moving 630 of Livv’s homes to EPC C. The impact of this is significant – for our people and the planet.
“It’s created an estimated saving of £284,000 per year in energy costs, an average of £437 per home, at a time when our customers need it most due to the cost of living crisis. And its retrofit measures have removed 194 tonnes of CO2 every year.”
Consortium of eight
But it’s also a wider story that includes collaborative working from a consortium of eight registered providers formed in 2021. The group includes Livv, Prima Group, One Vision Housing, Magenta Living, Regenda Homes, Plus Dane Housing, Onward Homes and Halton Housing.
The consortium works in conjunction with – and is coordinated by – the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). Since the collaboration was formed, it is claimed to have delivered measurable results and meaningful impact for social housing stock across the city region, and indeed for the North.
The consortium secured £11m of grant funding for SHDF Wave 1 with co-investment of a further £11m; Wave 2 secured a further £31m of grant funding.
The impact of the Wave 1 programme across the region saw 1,203 homes moved from EPC Bands D-G to EPC B and C.
The benefits also include the creation of jobs, with the LCRCA programme creating 91 skilled green jobs across just six of the consortium members to date.
The following have been created either directly or indirectly within the programme’s supply chain in the delivery of retrofit works under the SHDF: 18 retrofit assessment roles; 17 retrofit coordination roles; 17 project management roles; 29 project administration roles; four low carbon trade roles; and six other support roles.
Cahill added: “The Wave 1 programme, supported by the commitment to Wave 2 (now in progress) gave housing providers and their supply chain the confidence to invest in developing a long-term delivery plan, and to create new employment opportunities.”
The Northern Housing Consortium’s (NHC) latest research highlights that decarbonising the North’s homes should create around “77,000 good green jobs”.
Its Warm Homes, Green Jobs, Meeting the Net Zero Challenge in the North, says one of the biggest barriers to decarbonising homes at the scale needed to reach net zero by 2050 is the lack of a skilled workforce and limited supply chain capacity.
The report states that with the right government investment, social housing providers can help develop a supply chain and workforce that will make it possible to deliver a step change in other tenures and bring down costs.
Tracy Harrison, the NHC’s chief executive, said: “There are nearly a million households in the North living in fuel poverty. Investing in energy efficiency improvements will significantly bring this number down, as well as playing a big role in helping us reach net zero by 2050.
“The social housing sector owns 1.3m homes in the North. It is the only housing tenure that has the organisational scale to significantly boost the supply chain and create thousands of new jobs. Investment in social housing is key to getting the infrastructure in place to roll out more energy efficiency upgrades to the private rented sector and homeowners.”
The NHC report calls for:
- Long-term consistent funding to decarbonise social housing to give contractors and housing providers certainty to invest
- Further devolution of funding so Mayoral Combined Authorities can take a lead delivering energy efficiency improvements in their area
- Growth of a sustainable and inclusive workforce through local partnerships
- Sustainable solutions for the hardest to decarbonise homes. This includes funding for regeneration, including building new zero-carbon homes
Cahill said: “At Livv Housing Group we back the NHC’s key rally calls, especially longevity of funding strategy. The mobilisation of a decarbonisation programme takes time, money and effort to start up. RPs have many competing priorities, so we need to have long-term visibility of the funding streams – 10 years and beyond ideally.
“We too believe the social housing sector can take the lead in delivering warmer, greener homes across the North and unlock a new generation of green jobs to realise NZC for the 2050 target.
“Because the NZC target stop clock doesn’t stop there and the klaxon is sounding for Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 applications.”
Main image: Northern Housing Consortium chief executive Tracy Harrison (left of banner) at the launch of the organisation’s report, with Tony Cahill, executive director of property at Livv Housing Group (right of banner)
Read next: Sequential testing is not an afterthought
Are you a social housing professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.