To receive information from Housing Associations operating within Trafford.

The Chair started by highlighting that all the housing providers had provided the information prior to the meeting and asked each representative from the housing associations to provide an overview as to what they were doing with regard to retrofitting.

The Director of Asset Management at Your Housing Group (YHG) opened by saying that their associations approach had been to look at the funding available and operating a fabric first approach, which is effectively looking at insulation. YHG had been involved in the social housing de-carbonisation funding which been done in two waves so far. They had also looked at possible cavity wall insulation. At the time, YHG had over 1000 properties that needed to have their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating upgraded to a C by 2030 and aimed to do so by 2029 with plans to put in a large amount of funding to achieve that.

The Head of Special Projects and Sustainability at L&Q stated that they had a similar approach and spoke about the application process which took a lot of work but resulted in the association being able to secure about £2.2M. She said that L&Q were starting assessments on their properties. L&Q currently had 2457 properties within Trafford that needed to be brought up to grade C, but with most at a grade D currently, the cost was not expected to be too much. The Head of Special Projects and Sustainability at L&Q assured the Committee that L&Q were generally in a good place for retrofitting at that time, and had a Sustainability manager in place in the Northwest that was helping L&Q to achieve this success. The Committee were reminded that it is the Government target to have all properties should at least an EPC grade C by 2030.

The Executive Director for Homes at Irwell Valley also informed the committee of their focus upon addressing getting houses to a EPC rating C, with their current average sitting at a high grade D. They were currently in the process of trialling a new approach to improvements and spoke about the improved ratings of their new builds.

The Disrepair and Complex Repairs Manager at Mosscare St. Vincent’s (MSV) informed the Committee that in Trafford, most of their properties were already at a grade C EPC rating, with 2030 the target date to have all up to standard. He explained the delay as being down to the remaining houses being properties with specific issues, which were going to take more thought to sort. He emphasised that these properties were retrofitted correctly, as if they were not, you risk mould forming.

The Group Director of Asset Management provided a similar response to the other housing authorities, with Jigsaw Homes operating a similar approach.

Councillor Winstanley asked the housing associations how much time and effort was being spent on applying for funding. The Head of Special Projects and Sustainability at L&Q stated that it was very arduous task, which took up a considerable amount of time to bid for such funding and has its own project team. MSV responded that housing associations were a group fighting over pots of money. YHG would like the process of applying for funding to become much simpler and feels that this conversation was coming.

Councillor Coggins expressed her disappointment by the lack of urgency around retrofitting and felt more should be being done. Councillor Coggins asked whether the housing associations were looking at switching energy provisions within the housing stock away from gas and electricity and towards heat pumps.

The Executive Director for Homes at Irwell Valley stated that each provider had their own carbon neutral plans and spoke about the reductions in funding which was being seen in this area. He spoke about the importance of having consistency in funding so that can build and scale up their approach and issues in a lack of longevity in some of the projects, such as the Green New Deal, which had a lot of funding put into it before it was stopped by the Government.

The Disrepair and Complex Repairs Manager at MSV spoke about ground pumps and how they only work in certain areas and types of building and would require knowledge being given to residents who live in those properties where it would work best, as to its advantages and how it would work.

Councillor Axford asked about what the housing associations were doing to engage with the public with the view of increasing uptake of more eco-friendly solutions and how much the associations saw it as a priority. She finally asked about the Irwell valley eco trial, what the purpose of it was, and what it will be getting used for moving forward.

The Disrepair and Complex Repairs Manager at MSV responded in terms of popularity of schemes from residents, that this was dependent on what scheme was being implemented. Often, these were unpopular due to the disturbance they can cause.

The Executive Director for Homes at Irwell Valley said that the eco trial involved looking at installing a system that will let residents monitor what is happening within the property so that they can be more involved in the process and allow them to become more involved with it.

The Head of Special Projects and Sustainability at L&Q stated that L&Q had received the funding and were building up the programme of work to encourage residents to be involved with retrofitting and increase resident engagement and the impact of the retrofitting to deliver savings for them moving forward.

The Director of Asset Management at YHG added that housing associations did see retrofitting as a priority, however, with them having until 2030 to get stock up to EPC grade C, finances must be managed correctly so that all everything the housing associations want to achieve, can be achieved.

Councillor Newgrosh asked what the housing associations were currently allowed and not allowed to do when working on a property’s EPC rating ahead of the 2030 requirement.

The Head of Special Projects and Sustainability at L&Q responded that there were currently no restrictions on whether someone can live in social housing if it has a low EPC rating, but that they still fall under the 2030 target on improvement.

The Chair thanked everyone for their attendance and recognised their efforts.

RESOLVED: That the information be noted, and providers and officers be thanked for providing the information.