Raven secures £600,000 Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
Surrey and Sussex based housing provider, Raven Housing Trust, has secured £600,000 of new funding as part of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s bid to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 1.
The successful bid will see Raven complete a full Net Zero Carbon retrofit of 28 existing homes in the Reigate & Banstead area by March 2023, with Raven also investing a further £2.4m in addition to the funding secured.
Wave 1 of the SHDF will upgrade more than 20,000 social housing properties that are currently below an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C rating by March 2023, with the aim of helping to reduce fuel bills for social housing tenants as well as delivering warmer homes with significantly lower carbon emissions.
Jo Hills, Director of Assets and Services at Raven, said: “We are excited to have won this funding for our community and are committed to delivering on our net zero carbon targets and reducing the carbon emissions of our properties. This will enable us to provide more energy efficient homes that are warmer and cheaper to heat for our residents. With fuel bills set to rise significantly in the coming months, there is a real urgency to do all we can to provide well insulated, fuel-efficient homes that reduce the financial burden for our residents who sometimes have to choose between heating their homes or eating.
“Although funding secured as part of the SHDF only requires that properties achieve an EPC C rating we have committed to a whole house retrofit for the 28 homes in this programme. We have decided to do a full retrofit in one single project to minimise any disruption for our residents and maximise efficiency. It will also be a great opportunity to deliver a full retrofit project at scale which will help us gain a better understanding of achieving net zero carbon emissions across our properties.”
Image caption:
Air source heat pump installed as part of Raven’s retrofit programme.
For more information:
Sarah Thomas, Group Account Director at See Media 07850 765321 or sarah.thomas@see-media.co.uk