The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is now open for applications!
What is the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF)?
The SHDF will see the Government deliver £3.8bn in grants over a 10-year period to support social housing providers decarbonise their stock.
The Government has announced up to £160m for the first wave of the SHDF. Applications for this first wave of funding are open today (23 August).
You can apply for the fund here – Apply for Wave 1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
What is the funding for and how will we be assessed?
The main focus of this wave of funding is fabric first. Low carbon heating can be included as long as the technology is installed alongside fabric improvements. It will not support the delivery of renewable heating/power unless the home has been insulated first.
Government are looking for applicants to focus on their worst properties first and in a high volume. All social housing archetypes are included.
There is a scaled cost cap approach – RPs much contribute a minimum of 1/3 of total project costs.
Projects will be assessed on three key areas:
- Strategic fit (45%) – how well does the proposal fit with the aims, desired outcomes and eligibility criteria – i.e. fabric first, worst-first, and in high volume?
- Delivery assurance (35%) – will the project be delivered by the deadline (January 2023)?
- Value for Monday (20%)- will the project deliver high value for money?
Who can apply?
The application must be led by a Local Authority in England. However:
- Registered Providers can apply as part of consortium with a Local Authority. It doesn’t matter if the LA is stock owning or not.
- The Lead LA does not have to submit their own stock as part of the consortia’s bid – it can be made up entirely of the RPs stock.
If you’re a RP SEC could help you with this – our Members include Local Authorities in the South East. Please talk to us if you’d like help getting in contact with your Local Authority to organise your bid.
What are the timescales?
The application form and guidance will be published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy today.
- The application window will close on 15th October 2021
- The MoUs with successful applicants will be signed in January 2022.
- Projects must be completed by the end of January 2023.
This is a tight deadline and will give successful applicants 1 year to procure a partner and deliver the project.
SEC can help
Our Zero Carbon framework will be Client-ready in September/October 2021. The new framework will provide you with a quick, compliant route to market for the works.
Using a framework could also help you to demonstrate the assessment criteria –
- Delivery assurance – You can save time by running mini-tenders or direct awards from the framework – usually up to as much as 12months compared to running the procurement in-house. Mini tenders can be complete in 6-8 weeks and direct awards in 3-4 weeks.
- Value for money – As it’s a new framework it will hold the most up-to-date competitive pricing in the market. Suppliers will be newly appointed and ready to deliver your works.
Once the framework is live you can speak to us about preparing a tender or provisional programme. This can give you assurance that your documents are ready to go as quickly as possible once the funds are agreed in January.
If you’d like to speak to us about any of this in more detail please get in touch. Our Head of Business Partnerships, David Smith has researched the fund and is ready to provide advice to Members – david.smith@southeastconsortium.org.uk.
