Housing Alliance to lead charge on decarbonising social housing sector in Mayo

ACCESS to funding for retrofitting is a significant challenge for Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in Mayo in meeting net zero carbon targets. That’s according to the Housing Alliance, which has launched a report on how best to deliver a decarbonised housing sector that meets national climate targets.

The Housing Alliance, a collaboration of six of Ireland’s largest AHBs, commissioned the report, funded by the Housing Agency, to identify the issues, challenges and opportunities for delivering a decarbonised housing sector in Mayo and across Ireland.

The report sets out recommendations to enable alliance members to work together to tackle climate challenges.

Key findings of the report are:

· Across all stakeholder groups, there was consensus that the top three climate-related issues for the sector are energy management, fuel poverty and retrofit finance.

· Access to finance for retrofitting older homes is a challenge for the sector due to structural issues around how the AHB sector is funded.

· There are retrofit supply chain challenges such as shortages in materials, equipment and labour.

The report was launched by Deputy Steven Matthews, chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Commenting on the findings , John Hannigan, chair of the Housing Alliance, said: “Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) across Ireland have a central role in providing social and affordable housing in Mayo and across Ireland.

“With over 43,000 homes, decarbonising the sector will be essential in tackling the climate crisis and meeting national targets. The main challenge lies in funding for decarbonising the current AHB stock through retrofitting.

“Residential energy efficiency upgrades, also known as retrofits, have been shown to deliver more comfortable homes and health benefits for the occupants as well as reduced energy bills.

“We commissioned this report with the goal of identifying tangible actions to enable the Housing Alliance members to work together to tackle the challenges of decarbonisation. We are proposing that the Housing Alliance should be seen as strategic partners for government, contractors and finance. Through collaboration and partnership, we can create an efficient and cost-saving way of achieving our housing targets.

“Throughout the report, finance was a key issue raised by respondents. AHBs reported difficulty in accessing public or private debt to fund retrofits. Engaging with government and key stakeholders to ensure there is a common understanding on how this process can be streamlined is vital.

“We hope that by sharing our vision and the insights and recommendations in this report, the sector and its key stakeholders will engage and collaborate to realise our potential. The Housing Alliance is ready to lead by example and is committed to implementing the recommendations of this report.”

Report recommendations

Emerging from the report findings, the Housing Alliance has nine recommendations. Some of these include:

· Set the agenda for the AHB sector by agreeing an ambitious common decarbonisation target, aligned with national targets.

· Spearhead the development of a decarbonisation guide for AHBs to support the delivery of targets and commitments.

· Engage immediately with public sector stakeholders to ensure that the challenges to raising private or public finance for retrofits are understood, and the full suite of potential solutions is identified and assessed.

· Engage with the public sector to explore how AHBs could be used as innovation test beds.