Cornwall Council Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator

This social housing retrofit accelerator scheme has installed solar PV panels on 600 social housing properties in Cornwall, to generate renewable energy, reduce tenant energy costs and support local supply chains.

300 t
Est. annual reduction in carbon
emissions (tonnes CO2 eq)

2,400
Est. number of people
who benefit directly

Photo voltaic panels on Cornwall homes
Photo voltaic panels on Cornwall homes
Map of locations for housing retrofit in Cornwall

Cornwall Council's story

In 2020, Cornwall Council was successful in securing a Getting Building Fund grant from the UK Government and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP. This funding has enabled a pilot project aimed at decarbonising the Council’s social housing stock and protecting jobs as part of the pandemic recovery effort.

The initiative will help to accelerate the Council’s Cornwall-wide programme to retrofit social housing with renewable energy technology, supporting clean growth and addressing fuel poverty and the climate emergency. Solar PV is at the heart of this Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator scheme. The scheme aims to deploy solar PV on 600 social housing properties in Cornwall to generate renewable energy, improve the energy efficiency of homes, reduce tenant energy costs, and support local supply chains.

Useful learnings from Cornwall Council

Partners:
Cornwall Council benefited from support from the South West Net Zero Hub in the following areas:
• Writing funding bid;
• Establishing solar PV installer framework;
• Creating technical specification;
• Property selection;
• Stakeholder engagement;
• Evaluating supplier bids for the project call-offs;
• Ad-hoc technical support.

The South West Net Zero Hub is currently working with Cornwall Council to research viable ways to develop solar PV on social housing without grant funding.

Funding:
The scheme benefited from a blend of 67% UK Government funding (Getting Building Fund) and 33% Cornwall Council match. The solar PV systems will be owned by Cornwall Council and operated/ maintained by Cornwall Housing Limited – the arm’s length management organisation responsible for the Council’s housing stock.

Cornwall Council's metrics

Renewable energy generated
Carbon emissions saved
Number of homes retrofitted with measures
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