Agenda item

7.1

A petition was received from Mahara Haque regarding the change of a property to flats as opposed to a 19 bedroom HMO.

The Chair explained that as it was a live planning application that the Housing Committee could not express a view and that comments should be logged through the planning portal. It was advised to formally refer the petition onto the Planning Committee.

7.2

Two questions were received from Derek Martin:

In 2019 Sheffield City Council declared a Climate Emergency  working towards Sheffield becoming a zero-carbon City by the start of the next decade. It’s now 2023 ,4 years latter, ample time for departments  to aline their investment programmes with this declared objective.

The City Council will have recently approved the Housing Capital Programme and 30 year business plan for Council owned homes,

It is great that Sheffield City Council is committed to building much needed new social rented homes. Any homes being built now will need to last at least 100 years ,at a minimum , considerably longer at the present rate of renewal.  So these homes will have a minimum 95% of their life whilst Sheffield is planning to be zero carbon.

The 30 year Business Plan for Housing also contains the Councils Investment programme for Council homes in the City. Again this investment plan will mainly  be in the period when Sheffield is planning to be zero carbon 80%.

The planet is facing a real emergency now and actions need to be taken now, a we can’t afford it or going part of the way, approach is simply not acceptable anymore , the planet can’t afford us not to take actions now.

Putting off actions, talk of retro fitting the new homes , will only make them considerably more expensive in the future , a stitch in time  saves nine, as the saying goes

So

Q1. of the new build Council homes programme how many will be zero carbon.

Q2. how many council homes are programmed to be zero carbon at the end of the 30 year business plan.

TheChair responded with:

A1. Currently, no directly delivered new build council houses have been built to net zero operational carbon output.

Before the June 2022 update to the Building Regulations, all new housing units have been delivered to standards above the minimum requirements in terms of thermal performance and air permeability, leading to a carbon emissions reduction of 6% and reduction in energy use of 21% against Building Regulations requirements. To upgrade the specification of these units to make them net-zero would have significantly exceeded the available budget.

The new Building Regulations in June 2022 have improved the thermal efficiency requirements of new builds, reduced CO2 emissions and improved ventilation. This upgrade to the Building Regulations, along with the proposed further Future Homes Standard Building Regulations upgrade in 2025, will ensure new build properties are “net-zero ready” post-2025 – i.e., the properties will achieve net-zero operational carbon when the electricity grid decarbonises.

Sheffield also requires all new builds to achieve net-zero by 2030. In line with all of these requirements, the SCC new build specification will be upgraded accordingly, culminating in net-zero by 2030. Unfortunately, SCC has not so far identified the budget to meet these requirements on an earlier trajectory than is required by these requirements.

Nevertheless, in winter 2023, it is proposed to deliver 6 council new-build units of Move-on Accommodation that will be net-zero operational carbon as a feature inherent in the type of modular unit being used to deliver this project. This is not a system that is relevant for all types of development under the building programme.

All proposed properties to be delivered after 2025 will be “net-zero ready” and further specification upgrades will be made to deliver net-zero properties by 2030.

At the moment, the current Stock Increase Programme (incorporating the SCC new build projects) is only approved to deliver up to 2028/29 and so it is unlikely that any further new-build properties within the current programme will reach total net-zero unless delivered as an inherent feature of a system used or if any net-zero properties are purchased under the new build acquisition element of the Stock Increase Programme. The future delivery of the programme is also subject to the recently approved HRA Business Plan amendments. The impact of the amendments on the programme is still being analysed, including the delivery rate and timescales of future projects. Therefore, it is not possible at this moment to estimate how many units will be delivered by SCC at net-zero ready standard after 2025. Once the revised future new build programme has been established and approved, these estimates will become available.

A2. The Council’s current plans include bringing the estimated 6,900 homes that are below EPC level C up to a minimum of EPC level C by 2030. The Net Zero Carbon Road Map is currently being finalized and this will inform the council of the investment options and solutions available to, together with an estimate of the likely costs. The implications of the roadmap will feed into the Council’s Climate Change 10-point Plan. Sheffield is going beyond the government guidance on this, which states that all social housing must meet this standard by 2035.

Within the approved 5-year capital programme, the council is targeting properties that are below EPC level C. Over the next 18 months, the council will have improved over 377 properties to EPC C or better.

Sheffield City Council has sought to maximise all government grant funding available in the realm of housing energy efficiency improvements & the pursuit of carbon neutrality. To date we have secured over £5m contributing toward the cost of these works to Council homes and will continue to seek out all other future funding opportunities. For this reason, it is not possible to say what the position will be by 2030.