Southway Housing Trust has announced it has secured £1.96 million of the £37 million awarded to Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s consortium bid for decarbonation funding from the government.
The money has been awarded as part of the second wave of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the details of which were announced on Wednesday, 22nd March.
The funding will make a significant contribution to the decarbonation and improvement of many of Southway’s least energy efficient homes, with 1,112 of our properties across South Manchester to be upgraded at a total cost of £4.5 million.
Our homes will be retrofitted with a combination of PV solar panels, energy efficient heating systems and improved insulation, making homes greener, warmer, and more cost effective to heat.
Southway’s properties alone make up almost 20% of the 5,400 social homes that comprised the Greater Manchester Combined Authority consortium bid, with 18 Greater Manchester social landlords sharing the £37 million pot.
In the City of Manchester, where Southway operates, we will be retrofitting 32% of the 3,434 homes set to be decarbonised.
“Southway has made reducing carbon one of its highest priorities, so I’m delighted that the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund award has matched our ambitious aims as an organisation. I’m particularly pleased with the amount of funding awarded to Southway in relation to our size, because we have punched above our weight in that regard, and it’s another important indicator that we are on the right course.” A recent survey of Southway residents also revealed that 88% of our tenants want to reduce their impact on climate change, so we feel our priorities are in line with those of our customers – we all want and need to change together.”
- Karen Mitchell, Chief Executive
The award is another timely boost for Southway, as we continue to strive to achieve zero-carbon by 2038, and in December 2022 we completed retrofitting the first homes as part of its ERDF Arrowfield Low Carbon Living project.
The project is seeing 387 homes retrofitted over the next six months with air source heat pumps and improved insulation, alongside with resident support, on the Arrowfield Estate in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, South Manchester.
“Southway is now in the position to be able to complete retrofit works to almost 25% of our 6,000 homes over the next two years, which is a big step in our zero-carbon journey. Finding a route to decarbonising thousands of homes can feel more like using a compass than a map at times, in as much as you try to move in the right direction, working out some of the details as you go. But this, and other future funding awards, will enable Southway to access the latest technology and approaches to home energy efficiency. So much credit has to go to Greater Manchester Combined Authority for leading the consortium bid.”
- Matt Roberts, Strategic Director of Property
To find out more about Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s consortium bid visit
To find out more about Southway Housing Trust’s Zero Carbon by 2038 visit www.southwayhousing.co.uk/energy-low-carbon-living/