Issue - items at meetings - Council Housing Retrofit

The Interim Director of Place to present a report which sets out proposals for the retrofit of the council’s housing stock to deliver energy efficiency measures that will support the ambition for zero carbon emissions by 2030, and options to allocate the agreed capital budget for this purpose.

Resolved: (i) That the outcomes of the pre-decision scrutiny undertaken at the Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee be noted.

(ii) That the objectives of the Council Housing Retrofit programme be approved.

(iii) That Option 3 (commence decarbonisation work in tandem with strategy development work) be approved as the preferred option to allocate the agreed capital budget.

(iv) That the ambitions for carbon neutrality be incorporated into the Housing Asset Strategy and plans.

(v) That funding and investment models to support the decarbonisation of council and private homes in York be explored and a further report be brought to Executive setting out proposals in respect of these.

(vi) That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director of Housing & Community Safety, in consultation with the Executive Member for Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods, to apply for grant opportunities to further support York residents to access their own energy saving grants.

Reason: To improve the energy performance of some of the city’s poorer-performing council houses, both to reduce energy bills and to support the council’s ambition for York to be carbon neutral by 2030, while taking the first steps in creating a pipeline of retrofit work in York which will support skills development and new green jobs.

The Interim Director of Place and the Assistant Director of Housing presented a report which set out proposals for the retrofit of the council’s housing stock, to deliver energy efficiency measures in support of the ambition for zero carbon emissions in the city by 2030.

With homes creating a third of York’s carbon emissions, it was considered vital to take steps to make improvements. This investment in the council’s housing stock would also bring significant benefits to residents, including reduced fuel poverty. The total budget available in the HRA for the retrofit programme was £2m. This was not enough to achieve the objections in full, so a combination of actions was needed, as outlined in paragraph 34 of the report. Paragraphs 36-42 set out and appraised the following options for investment of the agreed budget:

Option 1 – undertake planning and strategic development first;

Option 2 – allocate the whole £2m capital budget to energy performance works on the worst performing homes;

Option 3 – commence decarbonisation work in tandem with strategy development work. This was the recommended option, as it would allow the council to match fund grant opportunities and approach applications with a clearly defined strategy and a track record of delivering works.

It was reported that the Housing and Community Safety Policy & Scrutiny Committee, in considering the report at their meeting on 11 December, had expressed broad support for Option 3.