Communities and Local Government Committee

Inquiry and call for evidence

Existing housing stock and climate change

Groundwork UK written submission

Memorandum

Executive summary

1. Groundwork's role in working with local communities on environmental issues has afforded us a unique level of experience in providing information and technical advice on improving the energy efficiency performance of the UK's existing housing stock. Programmes and social enterprises such as The Greenhouse Initiative and The Green Doctor, delivered in partnership with housing associations and the public sector, have been successful in delivering not only energy efficiency improvements and reduced carbon emissions for homeowners, but also valuable skills, training and employment experience for individuals through Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) programmes. Such schemes help those on low incomes, who are most likely to suffer disproportionately from poorer environmental outcomes, by helping to lift them out of fuel poverty.

2. We are concerned at the levels of non-decent and energy inefficient housing within the UK. We call upon the Government to roll out similar schemes to those models pioneered and executed by Groundwork, with the aim of improving the environmental performance of our existing housing stock. We also call for high environmental standards to be implemented for all new public housing, the Code for Sustainable Homes to be made mandatory, in addition to the removal of fiscal disincentives for householders and landlords to renovate and green their homes through the equalisation of VAT between new build and renovation activities.

Introduction

3. Groundwork is a federation of Trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, each working with their partners to improve the quality of the local environment, the lives of local people and the success of local businesses in areas in need of investment and support. Groundwork's projects aim to deliver benefits:

· for people - creating opportunities for people to learn new skills and become more active citizens;

· for places - delivering environmental improvements that create cleaner, safer and greener neighbourhoods;

· for prosperity - helping businesses and individuals fulfil their potential.

4. Groundwork's vision is of a society made up of sustainable communities which are vibrant, healthy and safe, which respect the local and global environment and where individuals and enterprise prosper. Our trusts deliver a number of innovative initiatives in partnership with housing bodies, local authorities and developers, in order to provide information to residents and offer them practical advice on how to make their homes more energy efficient. Our unique, established position within local communities across the UK has offered us a wealth of experience in this field and makes us ideally placed to offer evidence with regard to the best means by which the resource efficiency of existing homes can be increased. It also enables us to offer evidence on the extent to which current measures have been successful and could be improved.

Factual Information

The significance of existing housing compared to new build and the different levels of performance each display

5. The Government has placed much emphasis on new housing, as demonstrated in its recently published green paper entitled Homes for the future: more affordable, more sustainable. We welcome its intention to make all new homes carbon neutral by 2016.

6. Whilst Groundwork recognises the need for a stock of new, sustainable homes, we believe that the bigger challenge is in dealing with our existing stock, much of which is old, energy inefficient and often in need of repair. As has been widely reported, the majority of the housing stock that will be in existence in 2050 has already been built.

7. Groundwork cites the DCLG English House Condition Survey[1], which demonstrates that in 2005, 5,987,000 homes in England were classed as 'non-decent' (equating to 27.5 per cent of the entire English housing stock). We are also concerned by the fact that over half of the 680,000 empty homes in England have been unoccupied for 6 months or more[2]. We recognise that 27% of total UK carbon emissions come from domestic buildings and that all English housing only had an average SAP rating of 48.1 in 2005[3] - the Energy Saving Trust recommends that housing management organisations should target an SAP rating of at least 70. All of the above suggests that future demand for housing within the UK can only be met sustainably if a major programme of renewal is facilitated, which addresses the quality and energy efficiency of our current housing stock.

The provision of information for households and prospective house buyers, including energy performance certificates

8. Groundwork believes that the sharing of information regarding the efficiency of homes with residents and prospective buyers is a vital first step in creating awareness about the impact that our housing sector currently has on the environment. It can also play a major role in highlighting the potential financial benefits of implementing measures to improve energy efficiency measures in homes.

9. Improving the energy performance of homes - particularly in the social rented sector - is a growing area of expertise within Groundwork; indeed, we believe that our skills in this field have considerable potential for wider use following the introduction of Home Information Packs. We have found that a community-based approach, whereby Groundwork, in conjunction with Domestic Energy Assessors, provides advice on energy efficiency measures to households, with all proceeds reinvested in local charitable activity on climate change, is a model with significant social benefits. Such an approach could also be utilised in the delivery of Energy Performance Certificate assessments. The following case study demonstrates a key programme that Groundwork has delivered with local partners:

Case Study: The Green Doctor

With funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, Groundwork Leicester & Leicestershire developed the Green Doctor project as an innovative way of tackling fuel poverty in deprived wards by offering free visits to low income households aimed at helping people improve energy efficiency and save money.

The project's wider aims included helping to create decent, more liveable homes, improving health, reducing social exclusion and promoting active citizenship. Over three years, the Green Doctors conducted energy use audits of the properties they visited using the National Home Energy Rating assessment, and provided tailored advice to householders about their home energy use and environmental measures in the home.

The project's success is the result of an integrated approach focusing on educational and behavioural aspects rather than technology alone. Householders targeted by fuel poverty projects are difficult to reach, and persistent attempts to eradicate fuel poverty have had relatively low impacts. The Green Doctors overcame this problem by investing the time to talk to people in their own homes and addressing their individual needs. This enabled them to 'trouble shoot' specific problems such as a lack of understanding about how to control heating systems, or fitting low energy light bulbs for elderly residents who might not be able to do this themselves.

The Green Doctor also served as a referral point for other agencies and services available to low income households, both energy and non-energy related.

The achievements of the Green Doctor project suggest that if replicated in other cities across the UK and expanded to cover wider groups of households, it could form a valuable and effective method of reaching both national and local targets for fuel poverty and climate change. Between 2003-6 almost 800 home visits were made, with savings to householders fuel bills reaching a total of nearly Ł10,000 per year. This is equal to a saving of up to Ł60,000 over the lifetime of the project. It has been calculated that if the Green Doctor visited every home in Leicester, it could achieve an annual reduction in residential CO2 emissions of one fifth of the city of Leicester's climate change policy target. If it were to be rolled out across the whole of the UK, there would be a 13% reduction in household CO2 emissions.

Government efforts to reduce carbon emissions from existing housing stock whether in private or public ownership and other related programmes including Decent Homes

10. Groundwork acknowledges that the Government is working to improve the quality of homes through their decent home standard programme and we welcome the improvements that have been made to public and social sector housing as a result. We feel, however, that more could be done to encourage sustainable homes, particularly those under housing association and local authority ownership through an increase in support, advice and financial assistance.

11. We believe that the Code for Sustainable Homes should be made mandatory for all new build. We concur with the Government's suggestion that because all new homes already reach a high level of performance on the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) scale, even big improvements on top of current Building Regulations do not register significantly. We agree that, as the energy element of the Code is based on percentage improvements over Building Regulations, significant improvements are clearly visible.

12. We welcomed the measures announced in the 2007 budget to support householders in becoming more energy efficient, such as the increased investment in phase one of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme for households and the measures to encourage the implementation of microgeneration equipment in homes. Groundwork urges the Government to capitalise on this by encouraging and supporting the development of community projects and social enterprises to deliver energy saving and micro-generation projects on a wider scale - utilising measures which are relatively low tech, low cost and easy to install, but which provide major benefits. We are also disappointed that recent budgets have missed the opportunity to equalise VAT between renovation and new build; this disparity currently acts as a disincentive for those who own and manage housing to make existing homes more attractive and energy efficient. Concerted effort must be made by the Government to encourage energy efficiency improvements in residential buildings across the public, social and private housing sectors.

The technologies available to reduce emissions and the Government's role in facilitating relevant further technological development

13. A number of technical solutions are implemented by Groundwork experts during a Green doctor consultation, which could potentially be utilised in all UK homes. Typical measures include:

· low energy lightbulbs (CFLs);

· draught excluders;

· radiator panels;

· hot water tank jackets;

· heat recovery fans (where respiratory illnesses such as asthma are identified);

· waste reduction and conservation measures, including composters, water savers and bird boxes.

14. In addition to the above, Groundwork Bridgend & Neath Port Talbot has developed a project to stimulate the uptake of Natural Fibre (flax) Insulation and improve energy efficiency in social housing and community developments. Natural Fibre Insulation offers the potential to achieve energy and CO2 savings by using a sustainable and renewable natural insulation product.

15. Creating homes which minimise the impact on the environment requires education, training and knowledge throughout the construction industry about sustainable development and about new technologies which can help to minimise the impact of homes on the environment. Groundwork is pioneering the delivery of a sustainable development qualification which could provide a model for helping to improve skills and knowledge both in housing associations, local authorities and in the construction sector.

The costs associated with reducing carbon emissions from existing housing, who should meet those costs and particularly, in respect of low-income households, interaction between carbon emission reductions and the Government's ambitions to reduce poverty

16. Through our work with housing associations and local authorities to help get empty homes back into use and to refurbish existing stock, we have found that, with the appropriate use of resources, such projects can also act as employment training programmes. These help improve health and wellbeing, increase skill levels in the community and create local employment opportunities, helping to create truly sustainable communities and economies. As such, funds allocated to setting up and maintaining of projects primarily to improve energy efficiency have been shown to provide further, positive, more wide reaching outcomes for local communities, as the case studies overleaf demonstrate:

Case study: The Greenhouse Initiative

Groundwork Creswell has created 'the Greenhouse initiative', which is supported by the Energy Saving Trust's innovation programme, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the Learning and Skills Council and the European Social Fund. The project brings empty properties back into use and at the same time makes them sustainable buildings. This not only restores vacant property but also ensures that the houses use a wide range of energy saving devices and renewable energy measures, thus reducing fuel costs and cutting carbon emissions. The project is delivered by Groundwork Creswell's trading arm - Crestra Ltd, working in partnership with housing associations in the coalfield areas of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The improvements, which include insulation, solar hot water and a rain harvesting system, far exceed current building regulations. They also tackle fuel poverty by lowering heating bills.

The initiative not only ensures more sustainable homes, it also provides work for local people. The work to re-design and rebuild properties is carried out by the long term unemployed, providing them with the skills and experience to re-enter the workplace.

Case Study: Safe and Warm

Groundwork Creswell's 'Safe and Warm' programme has helped over 2,000 households in need by installing insulation and energy saving measures, and provided long term unemployed individuals with the opportunity to gain new skills in the field of construction. Work has involved loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, pipe lagging and tank jackets, draught proofing and the installation of energy saving measures such as dusk-while-dawn lights.

17. Groundwork is concerned by the extent to which the lowest income households within the UK suffer disproportionately poorer environmental outcomes. A report commissioned by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2004 examined the evidence for environmental inequalities and injustice in the UK[4]. The report identified that environmental injustice is a real and substantive problem, which affects many of the most deprived communities and socially excluded groups. It maintains that both poor local environmental quality and unequal access to environmental goods affect quality of life, and that in some cases deprived communities are not only disproportionately exposed to environmental risk, but also disproportionately vulnerable to its effects.

18. Groundwork believes that fuel poverty is a byproduct of energy inefficient homes and low incomes. We recognise this a significant driver of the need for support to be given to the poorest sections of society in improving the environmental performance of their homes.

19. Groundwork will shortly publish a policy document, entitled Fair and green: Tackling environmental inequalities and delivering neighbourhood renewal, which examines recent research and policy developments in this area and explores the next steps for Government and the contribution Groundwork can make in reducing environmental inequalities for UK communities. One of its recommendations is for an improvement in the energy efficiency of existing housing, as well as those of new buildings, with a focus on helping deprived communities and low income households first. As the aforementioned case studies show, localised Groundwork initiatives have been successful in helping residents to improve the energy performance of their homes and tackle fuel poverty, particularly in areas of renewal.

Recommendations for action

Groundwork recognises the measures that the Government have announced and are undertaking to improve the energy efficiency of the UK's housing stock and to tackle fuel poverty. We do, however, take this opportunity to make the following recommendations:

20. The Government should engage with partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors to roll out similar, community based schemes and social enterprises to those operated locally by Groundwork, such as The Green Doctor, in order to deliver energy saving and micro-generation projects on a wider scale. Not only will this improve the environmental performance of our homes, but will also constitute an effective method of tacking fuel poverty, a means of providing skills and a route back into work for unemployed individuals in communities. It will also assist in satisfying the demand for skilled energy assessors, as facilitated by the recent partial introduction of EPCs for homeowners wishing to sell their properties. Measures to improve the energy efficiency of homes are relatively low tech, low cost and easy to install, but provide major benefits.

21. We call upon the Government to recognise that the model of community based schemes executed by Groundwork are the most effective means of offering support to householders with the lowest incomes in making their homes more energy efficient. Our research shows that individuals on low incomes and who are, as a result, more likely to suffer from fuel poverty, are also those more likely to endure the worst environmental conditions in their day-to-day lives. Action to renew and improve the energy performance of the lowest income households first will provide environmental and financial benefits for those communities and individuals who need it most.

22. We urge the Government to equalise VAT on renovation and new buildings, to provide a fair incentive for homeowners to renew and improve the environmental performance of their homes. We feel that there is much more to be done in improving the quality, energy efficiency and attractiveness of the UK's existing housing stock. Action on VAT would help the Government meet its targets for sustainable housing.

23. We ask the Government to ensure that the Code for Sustainable Homes becomes mandatory for all new house build.

24. We support the calls of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP), which recommends that new demanding timetables are put in place for improving the energy efficiency of our building stock, and that existing homes should be improved to the EcoHomes Excellent standard by 2030.

[1] DCLG: English House Condition Survey. [WWW] http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/408/DH2aDwellingsfailingoneachdecenthomescriterionbysector_id1165408.xls

[2] DCLG (2007) Our policy on empty homes [WWW] http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1153425

[3] DCLG (2005) English House Condition Survey 2005: Headline

Report [WWW] http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/983/EnglishHouseConditionSurveyHeadlineReport2005_id1508983.doc

[4] Sustainable Development Research Network for DEFRA (2004) 'Environment and Social Justice: Rapid Research and Evidence Review'.