Green light for first wave of social housing decarbonisation fund
We are a leader in the social housing sector’s journey to net zero, having supported customers through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 1 bidding process to secure a combined £10m of funding. David Morgan, Managing Director of Wates Property Services, discusses the importance of this vital funding and the next steps for Wates’ social housing clients.
“Wates is proud to work alongside six of our customers to successfully bid for a total of £10m of SHDF Wave 1 funding which will allow retrofitting technologies to be installed in over 1,000 properties. This is an exceptional achievement and means that our clients can move forward with their energy efficiency investment and take a major step forward in decarbonising their housing stock and combat fuel poverty.
Since the launch of our PAS 2035 compliant zero carbon retrofitting service in November 2020, Wates is working with 11 social housing providers across the UK, to deliver industry leading retrofitting projects to 1,800 properties, valued at over £30m, four of which were undertaken through the Social Housing Demonstrator Fund, making us a leader in the delivery of decarbonisation works.
Collectively our industry is facing ongoing supply chain challenges, but our experience to date in housing retrofit puts us in the fortunate position that we can adapt where needed, source alternative innovations and ultimately deliver these programmes to schedule.
“Of course we mustn’t forget that these projects are, above all things, intended to move us forward on our decarbonisation journey. To give some context to the first wave of SHDF, it is predicted that the work delivered will create carbon savings equivalent to taking 6,000 cars off the road. The impact that our work will have in social housing decarbonisation is humbling. Not only will the work we undertake benefit residents for years to come but the investment we are making into the skills and training opportunities in the zero-carbon sector for our current and future employees makes this an exciting time to join the property services industry. We are very excited to move forward with each of these pioneering projects and to work with our clients to make such a meaningful difference and become the partner of choice for future SHDF funding opportunities.”
