Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) now known as Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund is a government initiative aimed at improving the energy efficiency of social housing. 

Stevenage Borough Council is using this funding to help improve its council owned housing stock that does not meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C standards.

By 2035, Stevenage Borough Council want all council owned homes to have at least a C rating on their Energy Performance Certificates (EPC). You can find further details about EPCs on the Energy Saving Trust website.

We successfully secured funding from the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund (previously called the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund) in 2022 (Wave 1), and 2023 (Wave 2)

• In Wave 1 we got a grant of £1,836,546.25. We invested a further £1,603,694.31 of our money to improve 209 homes.
• In Wave 2 we received a grant of £2,621,879.50. We invested a further £3,967,867.62 to improve a further 237 homes.

These upgrades were combined with our Major Refurbishment Project to create a plan of work to improve the living conditions for all residents.

We targeted our least energy-efficient homes, and installed measures such as;

• external wall insulation,
• cavity wall insulation,
• loft insulation,
• solar panels,
• energy efficient lighting, and
• ventilation.

These measures have made the homes more energy-efficient, reduced carbon emissions, and are helping tackle fuel bills and fuel poverty.

It is also an important step towards the government’s longer-term target to make all homes “net-zero”, tackling the climate emergency.

Wave 3

Stevenage Borough Council has now been successful in securing £3.85m through the new Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) Wave 3 to help us continue to retrofit our housing stock. This funding will be used to upgrade a further 379 homes with energy efficiency measures such as;

• cavity wall insulation,
• external wall insulation,
• solar panels,
• ventilation, and
• heat pumps to bring properties to an EPC C or above.

These upgrades will commence shortly after a contract being procured to deliver the works.

Please note: The council will contact you directly if your council home is eligible for the upgrades.