Our commitment to Environment and Sustainability 

For colleagues outside of our trades team (who therefore do not need to travel for jobs such as repairs and maintenance at our customers’ homes), we have a ‘virtual first’ approach encouraging online meetings and reducing the need for them to travel. Miles travelled for these colleagues was 41% lower than before the pandemic. For our trades colleagues who do need to travel, we ordered 18 new mild hybrid vans to make sure our vehicles are eco-friendly and fit for the future.  

Our ambition remains to reach net zero in our homes by 2050 and that all our homes have an energy performance certificate (EPC) C or above by 2030. This is currently the case in 84.3% of our homes. During the year we secured £530,000 of Social Housing Decarbonisation Funding (SHDF) to upgrade 103 of our least energy efficient properties to EPC C. We also improved the loft insultation in 111 homes, added cavity wall insultation to 155 homes, upgraded windows in 614 homes and upgraded the heating in 1,684 homes to more efficient heating systems.  

We’ve carried out lighting upgrades on 30 communal buildings, leading to an 81% saving in electricity bills and saving 245 tonnes of carbon per year. We upgraded the heating at one housing scheme to replace three low efficiency boilers, increasing the scheme’s efficiency from 79% to 98%. We’ve also fitted photovoltaic solar panels on nine homes and one extra care scheme in Dorset. We’ll continue to review this pilot closely to see how we can use solar panels in the future.  

Over the next 12 months we’ll be upgrading heating in over 1,700 homes and window replacements to almost 900 homes.  

Further pilots will take place to look at new technology such as infrared heating, heat pumps and internal wall insultation. 

Environment

& sustainability