The impacts of climate change, resource over-use, wastefulness and habitat destruction are already having devastating effects globally. As a social housing provider, we have an important role to play in reducing these environmental impacts and ensuring that households are supported through the transition to environmental sustainability.
Even as efforts to tackle climate change are ramped up, global temperatures continue to climb and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. We must ensure that the homes we manage are not only energy efficient and comfortable, but water-efficient, flood resilient and adapted to cope with rising temperatures.
“We need to deliver at pace if we’re going to meet ambitious national targets on housing energy efficiency, carbon emissions and environmental improvements. To ensure our success, we are putting resident involvement, stakeholder collaboration, and employee upskilling front and centre of our plans. Every department has a role to play in improving our sustainability and ensuring the changes work for residents.” Cecily Church, Head of Sustainability
Our Ambition for 2030
Energy performance – improving the energy efficiency of our residents’ homes where possible, bringing homes up to EPC C, and lowering carbon emissions. These changes will make homes more sustainable, comfortable and affordable to heat.
Road to net zero – reducing our carbon footprint to become a fully sustainable net zero organisation by 2050.
Lessen our environmental impact – beyond carbon emissions, we have a role to play in reducing wider environmental impacts and promoting best practice. Working with our supply chain and other stakeholders we will assess and take steps to reduce waste and pollution. We will increase sustainable management practices across our green spaces and raise levels of responsible sourcing.
Preparing for a warmer world – as global temperatures rise, our residents and their homes are at increasing risk of flooding, overheating and drought. We will identify the highest risk areas so that we can target climate resilience initiatives effectively.
Measuring Success
Energy efficient homes – we must improve the energy efficiency of our properties, bringing all homes up to EPC C where practicable by 2030.
Environmental training for employees and residents – new ways of working will need to be embraced by our employees and our residents. Bringing them along on the journey is key to ensure success.
Using data effectively – insights from live property data will help us verify that the changes we are making deliver the expected results.
Decarbonisation plan – we will develop and start to deliver a comprehensive roadmap for minimising carbon emissions from assets and operations. This is required to achieve net zero by 2050.
SHIFT Gold – by improving our sustainability practices and data gathering, we will seek to achieve a Gold award in the sustainability standard for the social housing sector.
