£20 million cash boost for West Midlands to make homes greener and warmer

Funding will decarbonise neighbourhoods in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire, saving households up to £450 a year on their energy bills

Part of a nation-wide £562 million government pot to upgrade people's homes, support 8,000 local jobs and ensure the UK builds back greener

£20 million government investment has been awarded across ten West Midlands councils to retrofit over 1,500 homes, establishing the country's first decarbonised neighbourhoods.

These West Midlands councils are ten of the over 200 councils benefiting from a £562 million government fund to improve the homes of those living in the least energy efficient buildings, rated EPC C or below - many of whom live in fuel poverty and off the main gas grid - and helping homeowners on low incomes create their own green energy to power their homes.

The £20 million government funding for low-income households and social housing in West Midlands properties will be used to install wall and roof insulation, new low carbon alternatives to gas boilers such as air-source heat pumps, and solar panels across the least energy efficient homes in the city.

Minister for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility Lord Callanan said: "Counties across the West Midlands are already taking strong action on climate change, and our funding today will help the region meet these ambitions and build back greener, helping people to heat their homes cleanly and cheaply while securing green employment across the city-region.  The funding for these exciting housing schemes is levelling up in action. Households across the West Midlands region will enjoy warmer homes, save money on their bills and reduce their carbon footprint in the process, all while supporting and protecting over 8,000 green jobs across the country."

Emissions from domestic properties currently account for around 25% of the UK's carbon emissions. As a priority area for the government, today's funding is expected to cut 70,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere - the equivalent of the total direct and indirect carbon footprint produced by around 9,000 UK households.

West Midlands councils benefitting from the government's Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator and Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme are:

County of Herefordshire District Council has been awarded £1.06 million to retrofit 100 homes;

Coventry City District Council has been awarded £530,000 to retrofit 46 homes;

North Warwickshire Borough Council has been awarded £320,000 to retrofit 54 homes;

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has been awarded £1.4 million to retrofit 186 homes;

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has been awarded £2.83 million to retrofit 219 homes. It will work with Heart of England Housing Association Limited (Orbit Housing) to deliver the project and is expected to support 50 local jobs. 

Staffordshire County Council has been awarded £1 million to retrofit 100 homes;

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council has been awarded £2 million to retrofit 180 homes;

Warwick District Council has been awarded £1.4 million to retrofit 50 homes. It will work with Oxford Brooks University to deliver the project and aims to support 25 local jobs.  

Wychavon District Council has been awarded £5.8m to retrofit 236 homes. It will work with Rooftop Housing Group, Trent and Dove Housing, Citizen Housing Group and Trident Group to deliver the project and is expected to support 100 local jobs. 

Worcester City Council has been awarded £921,800 million to retrofit 140 homes.

The West Midlands will also benefit from £61 million awarded to the Midland Local Energy Hub. The Local Energy Hub will work with Local Authorities and delivery partners to upgrade additional homes in the region.

This scheme is the beginning of the UK Government's plan to invest over £9 billion to increase the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals, as the UK works to eliminate its contribution to climate change by 2050 and successfully transition to a prosperous low carbon economy.

As outlined in the Climate Change Committee's (CCC) recent UK housing stock report, the UK's legally-binding climate change target will not be met without eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings. Today's £562 million investment into decarbonising social housing addresses this need for cost-effective measures that ensure UK homes are fit for the future.

Today's launch is the latest step in the Government's plan to reduce emissions from low-income households and builds on the Prime Minister's 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, Energy White Paper and the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, setting out Government's vision for a world-leading, low carbon industrial sector.

£500 million of the investment is being delivered through the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) component of the Green Homes Grant, helping households with an income of under £30,000 save hundreds of pounds by making them better insulated. This will be bolstered by the £62 million Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator, which will explore innovative ways of deep retrofits of social housing, helping bring down the cost so it can be scaled up and rolled out across England in the years ahead.

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator project, launched in 2020, is an initial £62m to demonstrate innovative approaches to retrofitting social housing at scale and upgrading the energy performance of poorer-performing homes, matched with a further £84m from Local Authorities and Housing Associations, bringing the total invested to £146m and allowing over 2,300 homes to be upgraded. The Autumn 2020 Spending Review committed £60m of funding for the next phase of the SHDF for 2021/22.

The LAD Scheme aims to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to low income and low energy efficiency rated homes, including those living in the worst quality off-gas grid homes. Funds under this scheme will enable local authorities in England to support low-income, fuel-poor households in their local area.    

The LAD scheme is being implemented over 3 phases:   

• For Phase 1A, grants totalling over £74 million have been allocated at the end of 2020 for 55 projects which aim to upgrade the energy efficiency of around 10,000 low-income households in over 100 Local Authorities across all regions in England. 
• For Phase 1B, BEIS have allocated grants of around £126 million for 81 projects in over 200 Local Authorities in England for delivery by September 2021. They will upgrade around 15,000 homes.
• For Phase 2, we have now allocated £300m to the five Local Energy Hubs, of which £61.2m has been allocated to the Midlands Hub. The regional Hubs who will work with the Local Authorities in their region to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to around 30,000 homes across England by December 2021.   

Alongside the Local Authority Delivery schemes and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Government is committing an additional £150 million through the Home Upgrade Grant to help some of the poorest homes become more energy efficient and cheaper to heat with low-carbon energy.