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Expert comment on the announcement of a new Green Heat Network Fund in yesterday’s Budget Statement

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunaq, yesterday outlined a number of funding commitments for low carbon heat in his Budget Statement. An element of that is a £270 investment in a new Green Heat Network Fund to run from 2022 to 2025, to follow on from the Heat Network Investment Project. It is designed to ensure that heat networks adopt the most cost-effective low carbon heat sources.  

Anthony Coates-Smith, managing director of Insite Energy, a London-based heat network metering and billing payment specialist, which manages approximately 250 UK heat network schemes, says:

“The announcement of a new Green Heat Network Fund is a positive reinforcement of the role that well designed and operated heat networks can play in achieving the UK’s ‘net zero’ 2050 challenge. 

Thanks to today’s Budget 2020 meeting, the new Affordable Homes Programme will get a much needed £12bn multi-year settlement and £400 million for ambitious Mayoral Combined Authorities and local areas to establish housing on brownfield land across the country.
Tom Slingsby, chief executive of property developer Southern Grove, which focuses heavily on creating affordable homes, comments:
“This cash boost for affordable homes will underpin building for many years to come and is a declaration of war on a housing crisis that isn’t going away.

Even though fire sprinkler systems are to form an important part of the Phase 2 Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which began in January this year, many pro-active HA and local authority landlords have already started implementing major programmes of fire protection upgrades, including the retro-fitting of fire sprinklers.

New build and current council housing in Renfrewshire will benefit from a £75million investment as Renfrewshire Council outlines its three-year Housing Capital Investment Plan.

Initially, £24million will be invested in 2020/21 to support planned investment programmes, regeneration, new build homes and retrofitting in projects throughout Renfrewshire.

Brand-new council housing will be developed in Gallowhill and Foxbar, with around 60 and 40 new homes respectively, and work is expected to start later in 2020 on a further 101 new build homes in Ferguslie Park and 39 in South West Johnstone.

This fresh investment builds on 95 new build homes in Johnstone Castle and 80 new homes in Bishopton which are nearing completion.

Online electricals retailer AO has teamed up with Greggs to provide and deliver fridges, freezers and other white goods for struggling families. Following a successful pilot, the new partnership was rolled out nationwide across 500 schools in disadvantaged areas on 3rd February.
 
Teachers at participating schools can now identify the families who would benefit most from a Greggs Foundation grant which will pay for a fridge, freezer, cooker or washing machine to be delivered by AO. Known for their excellent customer service and going above and beyond for customers, AO have established a dedicated service for vulnerable customers that ensures any special circumstances are taken into account.

Local councils should be given the legal authority to enforce higher standards of air quality in homes, schools and public buildings, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA).

The Association believes the government should use its Environment Bill, which will have its second reading in the House of Commons tomorrow, to beef up local rules on indoor air quality (IAQ) in light of alarming new evidence about the impact of pollution on child health.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians carried out a wide-ranging survey of buildings that revealed shocking rates of asthma and other allergic conditions including conjunctivitis, dermatitis and eczema were directly linked to poor IAQ.

“Too many of our homes and schools are damp and poorly ventilated – this is adversely affecting the health of children,” said RCPCH paediatric respiratory consultant Jonathan Grigg. He added that it was welcome that the country was finally paying attention to the quality of outdoor air, but that the indoor issue was not receiving the attention it needed.