sustainability

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund success

April 4, 2023

As a member of Independent East, Broadland will receive funding from Wave 2 of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF Wave 2.1) to improve the energy efficiency of its homes.

Independent East, an informal alliance of housing associations based in Norfolk and Suffolk, has secured almost £9 million in funding to boost energy efficiency in hundreds of social housing homes. The funding is being administered through Broadland Housing Association as the consortium lead.

Warm, energy-efficient homes

The funding from Wave 2 of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF Wave 2.1) will fund the installation of energy-saving measures in 800 homes, such as loft insulation and new windows. The upgrades will mean properties currently below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C will be brought up to that standard, which will help to:

deliver warm, energy efficient homes
reduce carbon emissions
tackle fuel poverty
support green jobs
develop the retrofit sector
improve the comfort, health, and wellbeing of tenants

The value of effective partnerships

We are very proud of the partnership with Independent East members. This funding shows what an effective partnership can achieve for the benefit of our tenants. This funding will help to improve the energy efficiency of tenants’ homes at a time when fuel bills are at a historic high. We will be focusing on improvements to 5 of our schemes, focusing on upgrading to carbon-friendly heating systems and electricity-generating solar panels, ensuring that the energy performance increases to a minimum of a ‘C’ rating.
Justin O’Connor, Assistant Asset Director, Broadland Housing Association

Funding breakdown

The funding breakdown between the housing associations is as follows:

Saffron Housing Trust = £4,733.094.29
Broadland Housing Association = £815,913.61
Freebridge Housing = £1,323,005.06
Havebury Housing = £1,295,148.72
Orwell Housing = £819,311.71

Derelict Norwich site transformed into homes for social rent

December 12, 2022

New social rent homes at Mile Cross Norwich

We have partnered with Norwich City Council to build 5 eco-friendly new homes on a formerly derelict site in Mile Cross, Norwich.

New social rent homes at Mile Cross Norwich, built by Broadland Housing Association for Norwich City Council

Norwich City Council bought the site of the former King’s Arms public house in 2020 to build social housing, using a compulsory purchase order. The site had been left to stand derelict for years by its previous owner.

1 x 2-bedroom bungalow, 1 x 5-bedroom house and 3 x 4-bedroom houses have been built on the land. The homes have been let by Norwich City Council through its housing register, providing the types of homes most needed by applicants. Each of the families has been able to move away from homes that were no longer suitable for them, making these properties available for new tenants.

Eco-design reduces energy costs

The homes are designed to save tenants money on heating and hot water. They have extra insulation and low-carbon features, including air source heat pumps, triple glazing and solar panels. Each property also has an electric vehicle charging point. They have been thoughtfully designed to complement the established residential area.

To make access to the development possible, the city council also acquired the house next door to the site. This was a former council home sold under the government’s Right to Buy scheme. It is now back in the city’s social housing stock.

Creative solution to meet demand for affordable housing

Councillor Gail Harris, Norwich City Council’s cabinet member for social housing (pictured above, second right), visited the site this week to welcome the 5 new households:

Turning this deserted plot into much-needed social homes is a fantastic outcome for the city.

It has been wonderful to meet some of the new residents already getting settled just in time for Christmas.

Purchasing the King’s Arms site to benefit the community is an example of how we are being creative to address the demand for affordable housing in the city.
Councillor Gail Harris, Norwich City Council’s cabinet member for social housing

Mark, who has moved into the bungalow on the site, said:

It’s a lovely home, it couldn’t be better. We have downsized from a 3-bedroom house in Norwich and no longer need to worry about the stairs.

Sam, another new resident who has moved from within Mile Cross, said:

We are really pleased to have moved in before Christmas and have already met lots of neighbours.

This new home gives our family more space, and staying in the area has meant we haven’t had to change anything else.

Broadland Housing managed the project for the council and the homes were built by Smith of Honingham.

We are delighted to work in partnership with Norwich City Council once again, this time as their Development Agent. Norwich City have taken a site which has been disused for many years and turned it into beautiful new homes in our city. We continue to be proud of our partnership with the council. It shows just what can be done with thoughtful insight and imagination.
Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing Association (pictured above, right)

Our partnership with Norwich City Council, has been fruitful over the years, with many new homes provided for the people of Norwich. As homeless numbers continue to raise, and many families in our city struggling to find good quality, well-maintained properties, these new homes are needed now more than ever.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive, Broadland Housing Association (pictured above, left)

Broadland secures £15 million for new affordable homes through sustainable bonds

January 19, 2022

Working with MORhomes, Broadland has raised funding for new development through the issuance of £15 million of sustainable bonds.

A sustainable business

To be eligible for this funding, we had to demonstrate that we are a sustainable business and fulfil certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

We will use the proceeds generated from the bond issuance to fund new affordable homes.

Competitively priced, long-term funding

MORhomes is 100% owned and controlled by housing associations. It is constituted as a PLC and applies the highest standards of corporate governance. MORhomes is a unique and innovative borrowing vehicle for the UK social housing sector, raising finance on the bond markets and lending it on to housing associations, who must be shareholders.

At Broadland we are focused on sustainability across all parts of our organisation. Our involvement with MORhomes and their Sustainability Bond has provided us with an opportunity to demonstrate our ESG credentials and obtain competitively priced, long-term funding that will allow us to develop new affordable homes.
Iain Grieve, Executive Finance Director, Broadland Housing

We are proud to have developed a genuinely unique approach to assessing the sustainability impact of our housing association borrowers. Borrowers like Broadland Housing who meet our standards are going above and beyond current requirements and helping meet the Government’s zero carbon target and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We are pleased to be able to demonstrate to investors the excellent sustainability work which they are doing.
Patrick Symington, Chief Executive, MORhomes

It was a pleasure to work with Broadland and MORhomes to deliver this successful and competitively priced long-term funding. This financing will enable Broadland to continue to deliver its development programme and meet the needs of its customers.
Lawrence Gill, Director Corporate Finance, Centrus – advisors to Broadland

For more details about the sustainable bonds issuance, please see the MORhomes’ announcement.

Gold award for sustainability

November 25, 2021

SHIFT Gold status - Broadland Housing Association, November 2021

Broadland Housing has maintained GOLD status in the Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT) Awards 2021.

We are delighted to receive SHIFT gold accreditation once again, especially considering the challenges we have all faced due to Covid-19. Being sustainable runs through everything we do and we continually review our practices and processes to ensure they are as environmentally-friendly as possible, in addition to considering how we can also reduce our carbon footprint. This latest award reflects the hard work of our teams throughout the organisation on the journey to #NetZero.”
Louise Archer, Executive Asset Director

Broadland was first accredited with the SHIFT Gold standard in 2016, after progressing from highly commended in the first year of taking part, through Bronze and Silver SHIFT awards. We have maintained this standard ever since, and we were the highest scoring social landlord in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

What is SHIFT?

SHIFT is an independent audit system that assesses the environmental impacts of a landlord’s housing stock across 21 criteria. It is the recognised sustainability standard for the social housing sector.

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