News

IN BRIEF

Social housing decarbonisation

In March, housing provider Orbit welcomed representatives from BEIS to mark the start of retrofitting works at its site in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. Orbit is working with Stratford-on-Avon District Council to upgrade 69 properties across the Stratford District as part of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator.

Following the success of the initial Demonstrator phase, Orbit has secured a further £1.4m funding from BEIS as part of the SHDF Wave 1 funding. An additional 70 Orbit properties will be upgraded in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority, and the works in Stratford will be extended to a further 66 properties.

Orbit is also investing £4.6m into the project to help better understand the scale of the challenge ahead and explore the impact of selected sustainable technologies in a retrofit application.

Sustainable by design report

A new report, ‘Sustainable by design’, by engineering consultancy Patrick Parsons, based on research with 100 senior executives of UK construction firms, reveals that they are seeing significant commercial benefits from using sustainable design and engineering to build developments with lower carbon footprint.

Two thirds (66%) said sustainable design is adding value to current developments and 83% said that projects designed with green credentials have given them a competitive advantage. Furthermore, 68% expect the value of developments with sustainable design to increase by between 10% and 20%, demonstrating the significant premium placed on sustainable construction. More details about the report here www.rdr.link/lac002

Housing association secures £137m of sustainable funding

Wirral-based housing association Magenta Living has secured a £137m funding package from NatWest to build more than 1,000 new affordable homes over the next five years and commence its transition to being a carbon zero housing provider.

The organisation, which currently owns almost 13,000 homes across the North West, will use the funds to achieve its ambitious growth plans. This includes carrying out maintenance work on its existing homes and growing its extensive portfolio to increase affordable housing levels across the region.

Magenta Living is the largest housing association landlord in Wirral and one of the leading employers in the area with more than 600 employees. Its vision is to build vibrant homes, lives, and neighbourhoods across the region.

The funding from NatWest will also enable Magenta Living to progress its Climate Change Strategy. This involves a 30-year commitment from the business to help tackle climate change through methods such as using electric vehicles, improving local green spaces, tackling fuel poverty, and improving the energy performance of its housing portfolio.

Magenta Living will also look to retain its gold accreditation status from SHIFT environment, reflecting its sustainability credentials.

The bank has attributed environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to £75m of the company’s loan facilities, helping the housing association to work towards the Government’s Zero Carbon Homes target by 2050.

Ann Monk, Executive Director of finance at Magenta Living says: “Ultimately, we serve local communities in the North West region by building properties that create genuine social value, and this funding package from NatWest is helping us bring this vision to life. The bank’s backing is assisting us as we move towards our target of becoming a carbon zero organisation by 2050 with the creation of truly sustainable properties. This will allow us to continue growing and seizing new opportunities, as well as creating new jobs and encouraging investment into the areas we serve.”

Marcos Navarro, Director and Sustainability Lead for Housing Finance at NatWest, adds: “It was rewarding to work on a deal that adds such genuine social and environmental value. This new funding package will not only allow Magenta Living to build sustainable and affordable homes, but it will support its transition to net zero and create local jobs, supporting economic recovery following the pandemic.”

Skyroom’s £100m Key Worker Homes Fund

Skyroom, the technology, design, and development company has announced the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Waltham Forest as the successful applicants to its Key Worker Homes Fund (the ‘Fund’)1 .

Indicative sketch of airspace development to be delivered by the Key Worker Homes Fund. Credit: Skyroom

The £100m Fund offers London’s local authorities and housing associations technical expertise and capital to deliver airspace developments above buildings in their portfolio. Skyroom launched it in March 2021 to help landowners achieve their ambitious housing delivery targets2 , using sites they already own.

Over 40 sites were submitted to the Fund’s Board of Commissioners for consideration.3 The Commissioners — which include Professor Sadie Morgan, Sir Steve Bullock, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence — selected the most impactful developments, defined as the number of new homes that can be delivered, their affordability, and the benefits to existing residents and local communities. These comprise a five-storey residential building in Lambeth, and several low-rise residential buildings within an estate in Waltham Forest.

Early-stage designs indicate that over 111 new homes could be delivered across the two sites: 23 in Lambeth and 88 in Waltham Forest. Responding to a shortage of familysized homes, both proposals include a mix of one-bed, two-bed, and three-bed flats. At least 50% of new homes would be affordable and allocated to key workers as a priority group.4 23% of working residents in Lambeth and 32% in Waltham Forest are key workers, according to data recently published by the Mayor of London.5 Skyroom is now working in partnership with each local authority with the view to submit outline planning permission later in the year. The Fund reserves capital to coinvest in construction and development.

Cllr Simon Miller, Portfolio Lead Member for Economic Prosperity at the London Borough of Waltham Forest says: “Skyroom's solution is a win-win-win for Waltham Forest, our residents, and local communities. We can direct this investment to improve, protect, and modernise buildings in our portfolio. New homes can be offered to families and key workers on our housing waiting list.”

____________________________ 1 https://fund.skyroom.london/ 2 https://fund.skyroom.london/events/ 3 https://fund.skyroom.london/governance/ 4 A list of key worker occupations was published by The Mayor of London. https://www.london.gov.uk/pressreleases/mayoral/mayors-new-key-worker-list-f or-priority-housing 5 Percentages are rounded up to the nearest whole number. Source: https://www.london.gov.uk/pressreleases/mayoral/mayors-new-key-worker-list-f or-priority-housing

You can read the story in full here www.rdr.link/lac003

DIARY DATES

Aerial image of Brighton ©Alexey Fedorenko/AdobeStock

FOOTPRINT+ conference

Launching in Brighton in June, FOOTPRINT+ is billed as ‘the new UK property event for a zero carbon future’. The show will run from 7th – 9th June and is aimed at local authorities, developers, consultants, investors and occupiers. FOOTPRINT+ hopes to ‘gather representatives from every sector of the UK property market to discuss, discover and how to action state of the art methods to achieve Net Zero in real estate’.

The conference programme centres around four streams — Retrofit and the Circular Economy, Efficient Buildings, Zero Carbon Energy, and Financing the Carbon Revolution.

Speakers include Joanna Averley, Chief Planner at the DLUHC, Tom Hayes from Oxford City Council, Richard Halsey, Capabilities Director at Catapult Energy Systems, Leigh Johnson, Head of Design and Master Development at Homes England, Jim Heverin, Director at Zaha Hadid Architects, Chris Langdon, Development and Investment Director at EQUANS part of ENGIE, and Yetunde Abdul, Head of Climate Action, at UKGBC.

Sessions on Day one include ‘Part Z — Industry Calls for the Regulation of Embodied Carbon’, whilst ‘From wastes to valuable heat’ will look at how new generations of heat networks allow us to recover what was once low-value waste heat as an important resource.

A session on the ‘Leeds Climate Innovation District’ project will address the challenges and realities of creating a thriving low carbon community and also on the agenda in the packed conference programme is a session covering the Net Zero Carbon Healthcare Standard.

An exhibition will run alongside the conference. To find out more about the event and book tickets visit www.footprintplus.com