1,000 social homes made more energy efficient across Greater Manchester

Over 1,000 social homes across Greater Manchester have received energy saving upgrades, making them cheaper and more efficient to heat and reduce their carbon footprint.

Improvements have been delivered through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which comprises £45 million of government funding from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, and match funding from partners of a further £68 million. In total, the fund will support making around 6,300 social homes more energy efficient and reduce their environmental impact.

With properties one of the largest contributors to the UK’s carbon emissions through heating, these works are expected to drive annual energy savings of close to 31 million kWh for Greater Manchester, and save residents £276.78 on average on their energy bills. Works will also support over 3,500 jobs and 60 apprentices.

The 1,000th home to receive improvements is managed by Six Town Housing in Bury, and has benefited from cavity wall insultation, loft insultation and an insulated loft hatch, smart ventilation to tackle damp and mould, LED lighting, roof-mounted solar PV, and battery storage. Tenant, Ms Hollerbach said of the work:

“I have noticed how much warmer and more comfortable my home is since they installed the insulation and solar panels, including how much less I am spending on my gas and electricity.”

Six Town Housing are one of 19 Housing Provider partners of the GMCA-led consortium working on the Social Housing Decarbonisation programme. All homes will be completed by September 2025, with improvements being made to social housing in every district of Greater Manchester.

Cllr Tom Ross, GMCA lead for the Green City Region, said:

“Reducing the amount of energy used in our homes will be key to achieving our long-term environmental vision of being a carbon-neutral city-region by 2038. Prioritising improvements to our social homes will help ensure some of the families most in need in Greater Manchester will benefit from our push to make the city-region a greener and fairer place for all, whilst also supporting the growth of the vitally needed retrofit employment sector.

“That we have managed to make improvements to over 1,000 properties right across Greater Manchester is excellent news – these measures don’t just benefit our environment, they also reduce the costs of heating and lighting homes, which is something that now more than ever residents are desperately concerned about.”