The organisation seeks financial support from the government towards the cost of achieving net zero carbon.  This includes submitting bids to the various waves of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) in England or to the Optimised Retrofit Programme in Wales, either in its own right or as part of a consortium with other social landlords.  It has all the necessary data and approvals to make these bids, ensuring that these are high quality to maximise the funding allocated.

The organisation is careful to ensure that the funding available supports the organisation’s strategy rather than driving it.  Bids take account of the risks of undertaking these programmes during a period of high inflation, with the organisation is also prepared to hand back these funds if changes in expected costs mean that the planned works are no longer viable.  

Organisations bidding for Wave 3 of the SHDF have taken into account the following changes to the scheme compared with the previous Waves:

• The alternative routes to making an application - the Challenge Fund and strategic partnerships
• The deadline for spending the funds is 31st March 2028 - mechanisms are in place to ensure that the allocated funds have been spent by this date
• The cost cap for energy efficiency measures of £7,500 per home
• The higher limit of £20,000 per home to fund the installation of low carbon heating measures for homes on the gas grid
• The minimum of 100 homes for landlords with more than 1,000 homes
• The availability of funding for low-carbon heating measures for properties that were funded in Wave 1, but not Wave 2.