Following a small number of pilots launched earlier in the year, the government opened up applications for Wave 1 of the wider funding under its Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund on Monday.  

The "demonstrator" pilots were run with a small number of local authorities who submitted bids, and the registered providers (RPs) that engaged with them. In Wave 1, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is inviting bids directly from RPs (though this includes local authority providers and private RPs) to be put towards improving the energy performance of social housing. There is a maximum of £160m available in Wave 1, which must be spent by January 2023. 

The deadline for bids is 15th October 2021 and the outcome will be notified by the end of December, with grants being awarded in January 2022.  

Making our homes energy efficient is a critical step on the path to achieving our net-zero commitments, and no doubt RPs across the country will be identifying the funding that they want to bid for and the homes they want to improve. Once funding has been granted, the procurement of contractors, and the ability of the supply chain to deliver within the timescales that BEIS has set on the funding, are key aspects that need to be considered. I would encourage RPs to engage with those that are involved in the demonstrator pilots to learn from those projects and to give thought to the funding applications they want to submit.  

Our social housing and local government teams are on hand to support with all aspects of the funding programme, from subsidy control concerns arising from the funding to the procurement of contractors and suppliers and getting contracts in place. 

The guidance notes, application form, and other key documents are available in the link below.