Havering Become the Latest Council to Declare Climate Emergency

by Floyd March

As Havering Council became the latest council to declare a climate emergency, Housing Industry Leaders delves into the action plan and what this means for housing in the Borough.

At a full Council meeting on 22 March 2023, the Labour motion was passed by 42 votes to 0 with five abstentions.

The decision to declare a climate emergency is the latest step in Havering's effort to combat climate change. In 2021, the Council launched its Climate Change Action Plan, which sets an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions in Havering by 2040.

Keith Darvill, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, said: “Passing this motion declaring a climate emergency and joining the majority of other London boroughs is an essential and necessary move forward for Havering.

Havering to recognise climate having serious impact on residents

“Climate change is here now. There’s no shying away from that. We only need to look back at last few years here in Havering to see the devastating consequences of this climate emergency locally. We’ve experienced an increased number of flooding events and, of course, most recently, the wildfires endangering life and destroying homes and a community in Wennington.

“According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (‘IPCC’) - urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees centigrade. In light of this, we will continue to review and improve our Climate Change Action Plan to drive forward significant change and put the power in the hands of residents and businesses to be part of that change.

“Declaring a climate emergency goes further to emphasise both the seriousness and urgency of this work.”

The proposed Climate Change Action Plan will remain a live document with annual updates to report on progress against actions in order to allow for science and knowledge, growing technological changes, strategies development, feasibility to be considered and evaluated actions to be refreshed.

Annual reviews to manage climate action thoroughly

The Action Plans set by respective Directorates are included. These plans will be reviewed annually and managed throughout the year at the Cleaner & Safer Steering Group, chaired by the Director of Neighbourhoods.

A key activity in continuing the Havering tradition to tackle carbon emissions is to consolidate an Action Plan, which is focused on the actions the Council can take to move the borough towards net zero. A Carbon Management Plan will be developed internally for the Council to plan and monitor its route to net zero carbon across its own organisational assets and operations.

The Council now has direct control over less than a twentieth of the borough’s emissions; however, changes in behaviour and investment are needed from all our residents, businesses and partners to meet the national net zero target by 2050.

The Council will develop its work with local communities and partnerships to deliver net zero, and future updates to the strategy will reflect the actions and pledges taken by others.

The delivery of this goal and the construction of further actions will be subject to an annual review of outputs to give political oversight and resident review. The performance will be reported to Cabinet twice yearly, and the programme of projects will be internally measured monthly by the Cleaner and Safer Steering Group.

Domestic emissions reducing overall, but specific measures still needed

Domestic CO2 emissions in Havering have decreased since 2005, and the same is true for all local authorities. Emissions in this sector are largely attributable to gas and electricity consumption for use in our homes. The main factors which have a big effect on reducing domestic CO 2 emissions are using less coal for electricity generation and using less gas in our homes.

Having an Energy Strategy to tackle carbon emissions assists households facing increasing energy prices which have limited scope to control the negative effects. Havering Council is already participating in initiatives for these households by:

• Investing in the thermal efficiency of the Council owned housing stock

• Improving the energy performance of new builds through planning regulations

• Accessing Government grants and welfare support to improve the thermal efficiency of non-Council stock homes

These actions will reduce harmful carbon emissions and improve the health of residents.

£9 Million to Deliver 1,000 Homes: Can it be Done?

by Floyd March

Sovereign Housing Association is delighted to announce that they have been awarded over £9m by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) towards their £22.5m improvement strategy helping 1,000 homes.

This is the largest grant yet made to Sovereign to invest in existing homes and will help Sovereign on its journey to decarbonising and retrofitting their 61,000home portfolio and map a pathway to net zero by 2050.

This SHDF Wave 2.1 funding round is part of the 2019 Conservative Manifesto commitment to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social rented homes.

The SHDF strategic objectives are to deliver warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills, tackle fuel poverty, and support green jobs.

SHDF has provided a platform for housebuilding

Sovereign’s SHDF proposals accord with these objectives but also go one step further to target the strategic outcomes defined within our Homes and Place standard, targeting enhanced affordability, health and wellbeing, carbon reduction and mapping a clear pathway to net zero.

Engaging with our customers on this journey to decarbonisation is crucial to the success of the project. They are now meeting our customers to get this project underway.

Resident Liaison Officers and retrofit teams will work closely with customers to explain every step of the journey, what the outcomes will be, how this will benefit them and how newly installed smart-home technology will help reduce their energy bills.

Retrofitting coupled with new builds is the perfect combo

Home improvement retrofit measures have been individually assessed and tailored for each home and follow a fabric-first approach which includes wall insulation, heat pumps, battery storage, photovoltaic (“solar”) panels, and ‘smart’ home controls. Combined, these measures will deliver an enhanced energy efficiency rating of EPC B and B+ and an improved affordability benefit to our customers where bills could fall by as much as half post-retrofit.

The project is supported by a data-driven approach to continuous learning and improvement, and Sovereign intend to roll that out across all our homes.

Once surveyed, each home will have a “passport” that records all the retrofit measures needed to achieve net zero.

The same “passport” links to ongoing monitoring within each home to evaluate their operation, demonstrating net zero delivery and allowing quicker identification of faults or poor environmental conditions within homes.

Sero have been working closely with Sovereign

Sovereign has been closely supported throughout this bid process by Sero who provide digital solutions for planning, funding and operating homes along their decarbonisation journey towards net zero.

Speaking from Sovereign’s headquarters in Basingstoke today, CEO Mark Washer said:

“I am delighted that our very ambitious bid has been successful and that we can now start using SHDF funding to improve our customers’ homes, making them greener and cheaper to run.”

He added: “At a time when people are struggling to pay their bills and when the quality of social housing is under scrutiny, Sovereign is leading the way in upgrading our homes to make them warmer, more efficient and set them on the journey to net zero.”

He went on to say: “I want to congratulate the bid team at Sovereign for all their hard work in demonstrating to the government that we really mean business when it comes to retrofit. Improving every home we own is core to our mission, and this funding will play an important part in expanding our retrofit programme to thousands of customers.

“Sovereign is leading the social housing sector in retrofit, and we want to share everything we learn on the way. It’s in all our interests to reduce the carbon footprint of social housing.”

“It’s great that the SHDF has been able to support us in this vital work, but government must continue to invest in retrofit, whether its supporting housing associations, providing investment for training and skills or funding research and development into the new technologies that will make net zero a reality.”

Andy Sutton, Co-Founder at Sero, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that Sovereign have secured funding for this leading project. We’re looking forward to supporting them during the project delivery with Retrofit Coordination and Pathways to Zero to help their customers easily run comfortable, affordable and lower carbon homes.”

Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said:

“This investment will help thousands of households to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and could save hundreds on their annual energy bill.

“The green energy sector is growing, and this funding will support green jobs and provide the training needed to deliver these vital upgrades to homes.”