Energy efficiency drive for council homes

Haringey Council plans to spend more than £100million upgrading its homes to make them more energy efficient.

The funding will be used to improve the 20,000 homes owned by the council during the next ten years and will “have a significant impact on the borough’s emissions”, according to a report. 

In March, the council set targets to make its own operations carbon neutral by 2027 and for the borough to be ‘net zero’ carbon by 2041. 

A report presented to the housing and regeneration scrutiny panel on Thursday sets out how its housing and regeneration schemes are contributing to the drive to cut carbon emissions. It reveals more than 50% of the borough’s emissions come from housing and around 7% from the council’s own homes.

The report states that £101m from the housing revenue account has been set aside to bring the council’s homes stock to the top of energy performance certificate (EPC) band C and band B, with energy efficiency set to be integrated into major works schemes.

It adds that the council and Homes for Haringey are working with the Greater London Authority on an “Energiesprong” pilot scheme to retrofit some of its stock with energy-efficiency measures.

In a bid to push up standards in the private sector, landlords will be asked to provide an up-to-date EPC for their property as part of licensing applications. John Bevan, cabinet member for planning, licensing and housing services, told the meeting that if landlords did not meet the required energy-efficiency standard, they would not be licensed by the council.

The report also sets out the energy-efficiency measures being implemented on large developments such as High Road West and Gourley Triangle in Tottenham, plus the Wood Green regeneration scheme.

Ruth Gordon, cabinet member for housebuilding, placemaking and development, told the meeting the council was hoping to encourage green industries to move into the borough and aiming to engage more with young people on climate issues.

Panel chair Matt White asked whether the action taken to incentivise landlords to boost energy efficiency was enough to help meet the net zero-carbon goal and if more could be done to drive up standards in the private sector.

In response, Cllr Bevan suggested the government should be doing more to provide funding for homeowners to upgrade their properties, as the council’s options were limited.

Joe Baker, the council’s head of carbon management, said the civic centre could help by directing landlords and owner-occupiers to the funding streams that are available to them. 

He added: “We do have individual house energy data, so in effect we can look at a property and set out exactly what has to happen, how much it will cost and the potential savings for it […] we can provide personal strategies for a homeowner or a landlord so that they have a clear pathway to deliver that, and we can also signpost them to local tradespeople, who will be able to help deliver that, and therefore that will help us deliver our net-zero ambition.”