Social landlords invited to bid for £10m low carbon heating funding

Registered social housing providers including local authorities and social housing associations will be able to bid for up to £175,000 funding under the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) scheme. The money is intended to cover the installation costs of sustainable heating systems such as biomass boilers, solar hot water panels and heat pumps. The RHPP offers one-off payments to cover the cost of installing new heating systems to individual domestic consumers.

"Last year our low carbon heating scheme for social landlords helped nearly 1,000 householders stay warm and reap the benefits of clean, green heat," Energy Minister Greg Barker said. "This year we have increased the cash available, which will help even more people move away from expensive old heating systems to low carbon more sustainable alternatives."

The department intends to use the money to support around 60 projects across England, Scotland and Wales. It made £3m available to social landlords under a similar scheme last year. A further funding programme targeted at communities which want to develop district renewable heating schemes will begin later this year.

The scheme is being managed by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), and will be open for online applications until 4 July. Bids will be evaluated by EST on criteria including value for money, the type of fuel being replaced, what energy efficient measures will be installed and the landlord's track record on delivering similar projects. DECC is running a series of roadshows for interested applicants in Glasgow, Exeter and Norwich over the next few weeks.  

Energy law expert Matthew Collinson of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the announcement was good news for the supply chain as well as for social landlords. "Energy efficiency and demand management will also be key," he said.

"Although the amount is relatively modest in the grand scheme of things, a further £10 million pledged to improve the energy efficiency of primarily off-gas grid social housing stock reinforces the message in DECC's recently published Heat Strategy," he added. "It suggests that DECC is serious about encouraging the use of efficient heating technologies and other energy efficiency measures, which are easy to forget against the more dramatic background of the £110 billion investment required in distribution, transmission and generation infrastructure."

The Government published its Heat Strategy (120-page / 4.3MB PDF), setting out its plans to cut the emissions caused by heating homes, buildings and offices entirely by 2050, last month. Almost half the energy consumed in the UK is used to generate heat for buildings and water, in cooking food and the manufacture of goods, and the majority of this energy currently comes from burning fossil fuels.

According to the Heat Strategy the Government's focus will be on energy efficiency, building the supply chain and supporting innovation over the next decade. It will also encourage the early uptake of low carbon alternative hearing sources through the RHPP and the growth of its Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which offers long-term financial incentives and support. The Government intends to consult on an RHI scheme for householders in September, with a view to a launch next summer.