Decision details

Purpose of Report: To provide an update to the Executive Member on our emerging retrofit action plan to support energy efficiency improvements in council homes. The action plan is being created alongside our existing capital investment programme to improve the thermal comfort of our housing stock and to help tackle issues of fuel poverty.

The report is an update on the council housing opportunities, a final all tenure retrofit action plan will be brought before Executive later this year.

The Executive Member will be asked to note progress and actions required to complete the all tenure retrofit action plan.

Resolved:

         i)         That the progress on delivering retrofit works following the success of attracting grant funding to support cross tenure improvement works, be noted.

        ii)         That the allocation of £1.015m from the existing Housing Revenue Account (HRA) retrofit budget to match fund government grant under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Wave 2 Fund, be approved. That the proposed details of the submission of a grant bid of around £1m, therefore enabling a £2m retrofit project, be noted.

       iii)        That the full expenditure allocation for the £2m HRA Retrofit Fund approved by Executive in 2019/20, and the associated improvement of 190 low performing council homes to at least EPC C standard once this funding programme was complete, be noted.

      iv)        That the allocation of £60k from the existing retrofit budget to deliver around 250 ‘quick win’ retrofit works this winter to support some of our most vulnerable residents this winter, be approved.

Reason: To deliver the council’s ambitions for minimising tenants’ energy bills and supporting health and wellbeing, building the local green economy and retrofit supply chains, and reducing carbon emissions in the city.