Fareham council houses are being made more energy-efficient and greener - but there is still work to do

The Fareham Borough Council housing scrutiny panel meeting on April 3 welcomed the report on greener measures that have been put in place for its social housing over the last year.

The council officer focused on the retrofitting projects and the council being awarded £1.4million from the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund (WH) Wave 3.

This report provided the panel with an update on energy efficiency improvements in homes, with an indication of current energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings, individual projects and funding.

An energy efficiency rating indicates how energy-efficient a building is, ranging from A, very efficient, to G, very inefficient. The council aims for its homes to be a C.

The council officer said of the council’s current 2,388 homes, 1,789 of these have an EPC.

Council documents provided a “snapshot” graph of statistics as it reported EPC records are currently being updated to understand stock conditions.

The snapshot from March 2025 shows the EPC ratings breakdown as 52 rated B, 1,178 rated C, 345 rated D, 162 rated E, 46 rated F and 6 rated G.

Councillor David Hamilton (Lib Dem, Wallington and Downend) asked how the gap below the C and D rated houses would be closed as “it feels like it needs more momentum?”.

The council officer said part of the Warmer Homes funding is being used on 163 non-EPC-rated homes to give them a rating. She said the council is also looking to apply for another grant that could help to tackle green emissions.

The report said in 2024, the planned maintenance team has worked on projects including upgrading windows and doors in 76 homes in blocks of flats throughout the borough. Other projects include replacing wall insulation at one home and starting to replace the council fleet with electric charging vehicles.

Since then, the council retrofitting programme has had a further three properties completed 2024/25 with a further two due to commence in early 2025/26. The retrofit process addresses poor energy efficiency and typically changes the EPC of those homes from D to C, said the council report.

The Warm Homes Social Housing Fund Wave 3 of £ 1.4million award was announced at March’s executive meeting. It also means the council must match fund a minimum 50 percent of eligible project costs, said the report.

The government initiative is aimed at improving the energy efficiency of social housing across England. The fund focuses on upgrading homes with an energy performance certificate below band C.

The project aims to replace overnight storage heating in some flats and includes a full retrofit assessment of each home with advice on the most appropriate works to improve energy efficiency. This may include replacing windows, insulation and installing extractor fans, as well as other measures typically recommended in an energy performance certificate, said the report.