Aug 30, 2019

Green Finance Strategy – environmentally friendly & profitable business cases for social housing

In July 2019, the UK Government revealed its eagerly awaited Green Finance Strategy which signalled that investment and funding shall be made available for green projects such as homes and other infrastructure. The strategy aims to put financial services at the heart of the efforts to combat climate change and achieve the now amended, legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Much of this Green Finance Strategy has been built upon the work from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) who have been developing voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use in organisations to provide information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders.  With 780+ organisations responsible for over £97 trillion of assets supporting TCFD, it is clear within this Green Finance Strategy, that the UK Government sees the value and demand for green finance investment and funding. Plans have been made for a range of sectors however, SHIFT landlords will be delighted to hear that there is a significant focus on improving our housing stock.

By “hardwiring long-term goals into legislation”, the UK Government has committed to supporting financial innovation that assists in decarbonising the UK housing sector. This is has led to the launch of a £5m Green Homes Finance Innovation Fund which will be used to assist piloting at a larger scale, green home finance products that have sustainable business models. For housing associations, this is an excellent opportunity to present a strong business case for systems such as smart thermostats which helps passively increase the energy efficiency of your properties – whilst also predicting mould risk and the best times to arrange maintenance visits to avoid “no shows”. This is just one example of many green finance products that are attractive to residents, drive energy efficiency gains and can be financially self-sustaining.

If you would like a business case for pursuing environmental strategies within your organisation, contact us at [email protected] or 07718647117

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