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BACKGROUND

As part of its ongoing priority to address the climate emergency, Calderdale Council is working with partner organisations and communities across the borough to take climate action. This includes working towards the bold target for Calderdale to become net zero by 2038, with significant progress by 2030. This is ahead of national targets but backed by science.

The council has worked with partners to undertake a range of decarbonisation projects on homes in the borough, with the help of government funding. The work is also helping to deliver the council’s priority to reduce inequalities and its long-standing commitment to support the borough’s most vulnerable residents. This is especially important as the cost of living crisis continues.

51% of Calderdale Council’s emissions come from its buildings and its heating systems are a big part of the problem, as homes and businesses in the borough mostly use fossil-fuel gas boilers. Buildings also often have low levels of insulation and can be draughty and expensive to heat. Calderdale’s beautiful older stone homes will be a challenge to decarbonise, with over 40,000 homes built before 1919 making up 50% of the borough’s homes.

ACTION

The Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme funding is being used to provide room in roof, loft, cavity and underfloor insulation for low-income households in Calderdale’s least energy efficient homes, helping make their homes healthier, warmer and cheaper to heat.

Homes lose heat through their walls, floor and roof: adding insulation envelopes the building, helping to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat it. Insulation can also help to keep homes cooler in warmer weather.

Ventilation improvements are also being installed into residents’ homes, helping to reduce the health risks that can be caused by condensation, damp and mould and poor indoor air quality.

To qualify for the funding, households needed to have a total combined income of less than £30,000 or be in receipt of certain government benefits, such as pension credit, child benefit, child tax credit or universal credit.

The work is again being delivered by Calderdale Council in partnership with the Better Homes Yorkshire energy efficiency scheme managed by Equans, and installed by local supply chain partner Eclipse Energy.

YES Energy Solutions were also procured to install additional loft and cavity wall insulation to suitable homes.

Through its Anti-poverty Partnership, the council has also established an Affordable Warmth Forum with partners delivering affordable warmth and debt advice to low-income residents, as well as ensuring support through its various insulation and heating schemes, is being provided to lower income households in the greatest need.

CALDERDALE COUNCIL’S CABINET MEMBER FOR CLIMATE ACTION, ACTIVE TRAVEL AND HOUSING, CLLR SCOTT PATIENT, SAID:

“Having better insulated homes means that less energy is needed to heat the home and rooms are kept warmer for longer. This energy efficiency not only supports a reduction in carbon emissions from homes but also makes homes cheaper to heat – supporting priority work to tackle the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis.

Those who have already benefitted from this scheme are already enjoying homes that are warmer, healthier and more energy efficient.”

IMPACT

Several local people have already benefited from the Green Homes Grant initiative.

Sowerby Bridge resident Sue Precious decided to take up the offer of free attic insulation and said:

“Now, I’m definitely feeling the benefits. My attic room used to be ever so cold and draughty, but now it’s a useable space and my daughter has taken up residence in there. The draught has completely gone, and it is noticeably warmer.”

LESSONS LEARNT

Overall, delivery of the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Scheme has been successful. However, there have been some key lessons around promoting the need and benefits of improved ventilation works that are required alongside the insulation to reduce the level of abortive works and customer drop out.

Take-up from private sector landlords has also been very low due to the level of financial contribution required compared to the level of local rental yields. Further work will need to be done to develop affordable finance solutions for landlords with small property portfolios, who may not have the cashflow or financial means to afford their contribution towards the cost of the works. As we already know, the private rental sector has disproportionately higher levels of colder homes and general disrepair.

Alternative funding solutions will be needed to ensure that private landlords will be able to participate in future energy efficiency retrofit schemes and ensure that some of the most vulnerable residents will be able to benefit from warmer, healthier homes.

FUTURE PLANS

The council will ensure that zero carbon homes and neighbourhoods become the standard in Calderdale and that they are built to protect the area from extreme weather, aiming for all new builds to be 10% carbon positive by 2025 or sooner.

Calderdale’s Climate Action Partnership will oversee and enable the delivery of Calderdale’s Climate Action Plan once finalised. A key focus will be on creating warm, resilient and low carbon buildings.

The council is also working on further projects that will start to develop the scale required for energy retrofit works to achieve the borough’s net zero ambitions.

This includes a project led by the council and funded by Innovate UK to unlock non-technical barriers to retrofitting pre-1920s solid stone walled buildings, through the Fast Followers programme to accelerate progress towards hitting net zero targets. The project will be delivered in partnership with Carbon Co-op and Todmorden Learning Centre and Community Hub.

The council has successfully secured a further £4.14 million through Phase 2 of the government’s Home Upgrade Grant. This will deliver thermal envelope and clean heating improvements to up to 200 low-income households off the gas grid by March 2025.

Work is also underway to develop a new ‘one-stop shop’ and retrofit advice hub that will give residents impartial advice and guidance on how they can improve the energy efficiency of their homes through insulation, ventilation and clean heat technologies.

A street-based retrofit demonstrator project is also being developed and rolled out from March 2024. This will test how retrofit works can be funded through a combination of subsidy, grant and affordable finance products for homeowners who will have to fund contributions to the overall cost of the works. The project will also look at how the benefits of retrofit work can be communicated and explained to residents and owners more effectively to encourage take-up, and overcome the challenges and barriers associated with the perceived level of disruption to residents whilst the insulation work is carried out.

As well as creating demand for retrofit works through support and affordable finance options for homeowners, this approach will give insulation and renewable heat installers the longer-term confidence to invest in training, skills and business expansion. In turn, this will help to meet the level of supply required to realise the retrofit ambition of improving 69,000 homes in Calderdale to energy performance rating C by 2038, as part of the borough’s net zero ambition.