Environmental

Our environmental work covers many areas but as a focus for our strategy, we’re focussing on our work as a ‘responsible landlord’ and a ‘progressive business’

We are currently in the process of completing a full stock condition survey of all our existing homes by the end of summer 2023 and this, combined with sophisticated asset modelling software means Karbon is in the best position to map our journey to attaining at least EPC C on all our homes by 2030, as well as looking towards net zero by 2050.

We have ring-fenced £20m in our business plans from April 2021-2030 for energy performance upgrades alone and as always, we’re prioritising getting the fabric of our existing homes right, for example, through loft and wall insulation. But we continue to challenge ourselves with bigger and more ambitious projects. For example, we have added in the region of £3m to the Business Plan to 2030 for innovative pilot projects to help us reach net zero.

One area where we are increasingly taking a sector leading role is community energy. We are installing an ambient loop heating system at our new sheltered housing scheme, Athol House, in Ponteland based on the use of communal air source heat pumps. We are also planning to use community energy source in our new extra care schemes in South Tyneside and our large development at Seaham Garden Village. In both areas, our local authority partners are seeking to extract value from the abundance of abandoned mine workings to create mine water heating systems.