2,822 social homes in London have been upgraded as of March reports Clara Margotin, Data Reporter

A hand turning a thermostat — Across England, 35,166 households have been upgraded – (Credit – Radar)

Thousands of households in London have benefited from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, new figures show.

The SHDF is a government scheme designed to upgrade social housing to meet the Energy Performance Certificate C standard.

The scheme’s first wave awarded around £179 million to local authorities and private providers to deliver energy performance improvements for up to 20,000 social homes between 2022 and 2023.

The second wave was split into two phases, with £778 million and £80 million of funding awarded to deliver upgrades between 2023 and 2026.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero figures, which cover all three phases, show around 2,822 social homes in London have been upgraded as of March.

Some 5,275 measures – such as air source heat pump, heating controls, double or triple glazing and solar PV measures – were installed in these households.

Across England, 35,166 households have been upgraded, including 1,455 since Wave 2.2 began.

Around 69,516 measures were installed for these households across all stages, with 2,981 in the recent phase.

Insulation measures, such as loft insulation, external solid wall insulation and cavity wall insulation, are the most commonly installed measures.

Peter Smith, director of policy and advocacy at National Energy Action, said schemes like the SHDF are “transforming lives for the better”.

He said: “Energy efficiency measures are cutting energy bills and making homes warmer and healthier places to live, as well as cutting carbon emissions.

“Social housing continues to lead the race as the best tenure for energy efficiency, but with over half a million households in social housing living in fuel poverty in England, there is still a long way to go to make cold, damp and mouldy homes a thing of the past.”

A DESNZ spokesperson said: “The energy shocks of recent years have shown the need to go further and faster to upgrade British homes, making them warmer and more efficient, while bringing down bills.

“Through targeted grants, up to 170,000 social housing tenants and households on low incomes in England will be helped to lower their energy bills and improve their homes through measures such as heat pumps and insulation, without households having to financially contribute at all.”

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