Report of the Strategic Director, Growth and Development 

This report provides an update to Scrutiny Committee on the Council’s proposals to decarbonise the city’s housing, incorporating an update on Green Skills.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director, Growth and Development that provided an update on the Council’s proposals to decarbonise the city’s housing, incorporating an update on Green Skills.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background to the subject area;

·         Discussion of the approach to Social Housing, including Council owned properties;

·         Consideration of Private Sector Housing;

·         Consideration of the approach to cross tenure housing and area based schemes;

·         Engagement activity;

·         Skills, including the Greater Manchester approach;

·         Funding considerations;

·         The importance of partnership working;

·         Discussion of internal staff resources;

·         Information on developing a Retrofit Plan document; and

·         Conclusion.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·         Calling for continued lobbying of the government for the decarbonisation of the national grid;

·         Calling for continued lobbying of the government for adequate financial resources to deliver the scale of retrofitting required across the city region, particularly to address the barriers experienced in the private rented sector;

·         The need to regulate heat networks to protect residents from unreasonable price hikes in their energy;

·         Were there any pilot schemes that individual tenants, keen to adopt new technologies and alternatives to address climate change could access;

·         What work was being done with property managing agents and leaseholders to support and allow tenants / occupiers to install new technologies such as solar panels etc;

The Committee heard from Matt Roberts, Strategic Director, Property and Development, Southway Housing Trust who delivered a presentation that discussed the Arrowfield Low Carbon Communities Project. He informed the Committee that Southway had pledged to become a zero-carbon organisation by 2038, following Greater Manchester’s climate emergency declaration. Switching from gas to electricity was one way to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change. The Low Carbon Living Project was helping Southway’s tenants on the Arrowfield estate switch to cleaner, greener, and cheaper energy to heat their homes.

Mr Roberts explained that many of the heating systems in the homes on the Arrowfield estate were old and needed replacing. The government will be banning gas boilers in new properties in 2025, so replacing like for like would not be appropriate. Therefore, Southway had decided to invest in heating and hot water systems that did not use gas. The old gas systems would be replaced with new ‘air source heat pump’ technology that only used electricity. In addition, other energy saving projects would be carried out at the same time, such as improved loft and cavity wall insulation. These improvements could reduce households’ carbon footprint by as much as 50%.

There were nearly 400 properties on the Arrowfield estate, making it one of Southway’s biggest neighbourhoods. Therefore, the Low Carbon Living Project would make a significant impact on Southway achieving its zero-carbon ambitions.

He advised the committee of the challenges experienced when delivering this project and the lessons learnt. He said that it was important to engage with the District Network Operator at the earliest opportunity and emphasised the importance of meaningful, ongoing resident engagement. He also stated that issues and delays had arisen when seeking relevant planning permissions that had not been anticipated.

The Chair thanked Mr Roberts for attending the meeting and sharing the experience of Southway Housing Trust. She commented that the learning from delivering this project should be shared across all housing providers at an appropriate time. In response to a question from the Chair, the Executive Member for Housing and Development confirmed that he would facilitate meetings and dialogue between the planning department and Southway Housing Trust.

The Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure provided an update on the developments across the education and training sector, referenced at sections 7 and 8 of the report. The Committee noted the importance of green skills and training and welcomed the update. The Chair advised the Committee that Skills Development sat within the remit of the Economy and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee.

The Zero Carbon Programme Manager addressed the issue of the private rented sector and commented that this was a very challenging sector to engage with. She stated that all opportunities and levers were used to engage with private landlords on this subject.

In response to the specific questions relating to individual tenants and pilot schemes and the issue of managing agents, officers advised that they would follow this up outside of the meeting and contact the Member directly.

The Head of Strategic Housing acknowledged the comment and concern regarding the Heat Network and advised that the Council managed and controlled this system.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport advised that the Climate Change Partnership continued to lobby the government for appropriate levels of funding to deliver the scale of work required across the city region, adding that historically funding had been piecemeal that had to be bid for.

Decision

To note the report.