Cheshire West and Chester Council's cabinet has approved making a bid for Government funding to assist with decarbonising social housing at its meeting this week.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) announced in October that additional funding of £80 million is to be made available to local authorities nationally through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).

This funding will support the improvement of rented social homes as part of net zero carbon ambitions. Should the council's application for funding be successful, the council would have to contribute half of the total cost of works.

The SHDF supports the installation of energy performance measures in social homes in England. It aims to deliver warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills, tackle fuel poverty, and support 'green' jobs.

Funding is designed to help to raise the energy performance of the 1.2 million social rented homes in England that are below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C up to that level.

In Cheshire West and Chester, 1,280 social homes owned by the Council are EPC Band D or below, and therefore eligible for upgrade as part of this grant scheme. The proposed approach would see those homes with the lowest EPC Bands prioritised, to maximise the benefit for residents in the least energy efficient homes.

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If the Council's application is successful, funding could contribute to social housing improvements such as internal or external insulation, improvements to heating and hot water systems, energy efficient lighting or photovoltaics, and use of recent technologies like Solar PV and Air Source Heat Pumps. Improvements to homes would have to be delivered by March 31, 2026.

Decarbonising social housing is part of the Council's commitment to creating a long-term plan to retrofit housing to help tackle the climate emergency and reduce fuel poverty. This is one of the 12 action points identified as part of Cheshire West and Chester Council's vision for an Inclusive Economy. The Inclusive Economy aims to make Cheshire West and Chester a greener, fairer and stronger place to live, work and play.

Cllr Christine Warner, Cabinet Member for Homes, Planning and Safer Communities, said: "I am pleased that cabinet has decided that the council should submit a bid for this important strand of funding.

"The council is committed to achieving net zero by 2045 to tackle the climate emergency, and decarbonising our social housing is a vital part of this.

"More energy efficient homes can also importantly contribute to a reduction in energy bills and help to ease the cost-of-living for many people in the Borough.

"Alongside this, there is lots of evidence showing that a warm home reduces health inequalities and promotes wellbeing. A successful bid to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund would help us go some way further to deliver improvements for residents in the least energy efficient homes."