Lord Callanan meets NHC members ahead of SHDF Wave 3

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) held a member’s roundtable with Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, to discuss the proposals for the latest wave of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). This was part of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s continued engagement with the sector about SHDF funding.

The Minister and department officials were joined by a wide representation of the NHC’s membership, from local authorities, housing associations and ALMOs. The North has been leading the way on improving social homes and is ambitious to do even more to make homes warmer, more energy efficient and more affordable to heat.

Wave 3 is set to be the biggest funding pot yet with around £1.2bn announced between 2025-2028. DESNZ outlined that key changes have been made based on sector feedback and lessons learnt. For Lord Callanan, flexibility was the key word of the meeting, giving recipients more control over how they apply for and access funds. The hope is that more flexibility on funding will lead to an increased scale of delivery and contribute to strengthening skills and supply chains. DESNZ officials will be closely monitoring to see if changes lead to added value through long term certainty, area-based delivery, and more low carbon heating.

Members were also interested in practicalities of how funding requirements will work with on the ground delivery. Applications for funding are expected to open this summer, with work expected to begin in February 2025. The department will look to extend the application windows and lead in times to give the sector ample time to carry out assessments and set out their plans. Since the roll out of SHDF, NHC has set out how greater long-term certainty from Government is needed. Longer term funding commitments will allow the sector to increase delivery and build the much-needed supply chains required to decarbonise the country’s housing stock.

Many thanks to Lord Callanan and his team for engaging with Northern Housing Consortium members. We look forward to working with members as part of Wave 3.