SHDF Wave 2.2 Allocates £75 Million To 42 Projects
On the 18th March 2024 the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced the latest allocation of funding under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) meaning that 42 councils and housing associations would receive matched funding grants to the tune of £75 million – all of which will go towards energy efficiency improvements and the decarbonisation of social housing stock across the country. But just what is the SHDF and who benefits?
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Explained
The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social rented homes, on the pathway to Net Zero 2050.
The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) will upgrade a significant amount of the social housing stock currently below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C up to that standard. It will support the installation of energy performance measures in social homes in England, and help:
- deliver warm, energy efficient homes
- reduce carbon emissions
- tackle fuel poverty
- support green jobs
- develop the retrofit sector
- improve the comfort, health and well-being of social housing tenants
The aims of the SHDF are therefore to deliver (at scale) warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills, tackle fuel poverty, and support green jobs.
SHDF – How It Works
Money from the SHDF is allocated to social housing providers by way of a competition with councils and housing associations invited to apply for matched funding tpwards the costs of specific social housing decarbonisation projects they intend to undertake.
Application windows are opened in “waves” with specific amounts of funding money available in each wave. Details of each proposed project is presented for consideration from which the government then announce the “winning bids” and allocate money to these project which have to then be completed within a certain timescale.
So far, after a prior successful “demonstrator” project, SHDF Wave 1 allocated £169 million to 69 projects in February 2022 – benefiting up to 20,000 social housing properties and reducing bills and carbon emissions. SHDF Wave 2.1 allocated £778 million to 107 projects in March 2023. and it’s just been announced (March 2024) that SHDF Wave 2.2 will allocate a further £75 million to 42 energy efficiency improvement projects run by councils and housing associations across England.
SHDF Wave 2.2 – Where’s The Money Going
Applications for funding under SHDF Wave 2.2 closed in January 2024. The key eligibility criteria included the following:
- All existing social housing as defined by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (sections 68-70), below EPC band C, regardless of archetype, were eligible.
- All Wave 2.2 proposals should have included a minimum of 100 eligible social housing properties at EPC band D-G per bid.
- Applicants wishing to apply to Wave 2.2 with fewer than 100 eligible social housing properties at EPC band D-G should have looked to submit a bid as part of a consortium that met the minimum threshold.
- Recognising the shorter delivery window on Wave 2.2, if neither of the above were possible despite every effort, then applicants were able to submit a bid with fewer than 100 homes with strong justification.
Results were announced in March 2024 and, as we said above, some £75 million in matched funding has been allocated to 42 organisations – the full details of which are listed below with all funding figures rounded to the nearest £100,000.
| Organisation | Total Grant Funding Allocated |
|---|---|
| A2 Dominion Ltd | £829,000 |
| Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils | £1,593,000 |
| Birnbeck Housing Association | £52,000 |
| Blackpool Council | £500,000 |
| Calico Homes Limited | £1,289,000 |
| Chelmer Housing Partnership Ltd | £604,000 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | £1,500,000 |
| East Devon District Council | £1,872,000 |
| Enfield Council | £3,460,000 |
| Gentoo Group Ltd | £2,845,000 |
| Gravesham Borough Council | £373,000 |
| Great Yarmouth Borough Council | £1,378,000 |
| LB Waltham Forest | £1,449,000 |
| Lewes District Council | £2,348,000 |
| London Borough of Barking and Dagenham | £1,028,000 |
| London Borough of Haringey | £1,758,000 |
| London Borough of Hillingdon | £2,759,000 |
| London Borough of Lambeth | £2,493,000 |
| MHS Homes Limited | £383,000 |
| North West Leicestershire District Council | £2,767,000 |
| North Yorkshire Council | £1,772,000 |
| Norwich City Council | £2,433,000 |
| Ongo Homes | £2,265,000 |
| Places for People | £1,797,000 |
| Populo Living Limited on behalf of London Borough of Newham | £3,831,000 |
| Portsmouth City Council | £1,909,000 |
| RHP Group | £2,617,000 |
| Runnymede Borough Council | £1,250,000 |
| Shepherds Bush Housing Group Limited | £2,244,000 |
| Shropshire Towns & Rural Housing Limited | £812,000 |
| Silva Homes | £1,428,000 |
| Slough Borough Council | £1,301,000 |
| Stoke on Trent City Council | £1,396,000 |
| Tandridge District Council | £849,000 |
| The Cambridge Housing Society Ltd | £949,000 |
| Thurrock Council | £3,982,000 |
| Uttlesford District Council | £3,803,000 |
| Walsall Housing Group | £1,679,000 |
| Wandle Housing Association | £1,018,000 |
| Waverley Borough Council | £279,000 |
| Wealden District Council | £1,473,000 |
| Wolverhampton City Council | £5,127,000 |
SHDF – What’s Next
Only a proportion of the £3.8 billion initially set aside under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund has so far been allocated so we can expect news on the next wave of funding sometime soon – but just exactly how and when details of the next allocation will be released is yet to be decided so … watch this space.