A package of measures is being taken to reduce carbon emissions from housing in the city. 
At a Housing Committee meeting (28 September) councillors were given an update on initiatives to cut emissions from council housing and private sector homes and help households manage their energy bills, and agreed to put £600,000 into the Warm Safe Homes grants over the winter.
The action is part of our commitment to become a carbon neutral city by 2030. 
A new Brighton & Hove Warmer Homes Programme is being set up by the council to help people carry out energy improvements to privately owned and rented housing in the city. 
 Details of the scheme are still being finalised, but the proposal is for the programme to provide support for owner occupiers and private renters in homes with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or below, and a household income of less than £30,000 a year. 
From April 2023, eligible households will be able to apply for a grant - expected to average around £10,000 per household – for measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation. 
An option of partial funding for households with an income of £30,000 to £40,000 will be considered as the scheme develops. 
In the meantime, while the Brighton & Hove Warmer Homes Programme is being developed, support is available for eligible households to pay for energy improvements through a Warmer Homes consortium.  
This is a group of local authorities, including Brighton & Hove City Council, which successfully bid for government money to fund improvements to private sector homes. This funding runs until March 2023, to find out more visit www.warmerhomes.org.uk 
The Warm Safe Homes grant will continue to support people and  families in fuel poverty by providing energy efficiency measures to help manage energy bills and reduce emissions. 
We are making an extra £600,000 available for these grants, in addition to £400,000 agreed last year.  
The grant is available for homeowners and private tenants on low incomes to fund improvements such as cavity wall and loft insulation, installation of energy efficient windows and doors, more efficient heating and hot water systems, and installation of heat pumps, where appropriate.  
The maximum grant available is £20,000. To find out more about Warm Safe Home grants contact our Disabled Facilities Grant team by emailing disabledfacilitiesgrant@brighton-hove.gov.uk or calling 01273 294366.  
A range of sustainability and energy projects are being carried out across council homes. 
There has been significant investment in upgrading gas boilers to A-rated appliances and 99% are now A-rated. 
Solar panels have been installed on 400 council homes and the aim is to add panels to 1,000 more council homes over the next 3 years, with the first installations likely to begin in spring 2023. 
There have been improvements in the EPC ratings of our council homes and an energy plan will prioritise measures to improve properties with low energy performance ratings of D to F.   
A new Sustainability and Energy team set up earlier this year in housing is working on these and other projects. 
The committee agreed a New Build Housing Sustainability Policy setting out actions, objectives and targets for delivering more sustainable new build council homes. 
The policy ensures whole life carbon assessment are undertaken for every new build council housing project, and includes processes to minimise emissions generated by development and in the use of the homes.  
Investment in measures such as better insulation will benefit tenants whose energy bills will be lower than they would otherwise be. 
The sustainability policy is already being put into practice in new housing projects including Victoria Road, Portslade where 42 new council flats are nearing completion through our New Homes for Neighbourhoods building programme. 
The flats are designed to be highly energy efficient, and the development will be the first new council housing project in the city with a ground source heat pump system, which will provide heating and hot water. 
The development also has solar panels, high levels of insulation, and ‘living’ walls will be planted on the exterior and watered with recycled rainwater. 
Councillor David Gibson, Co-chair of the Housing Committee, said: “Reducing carbon emissions is a priority for us and, with energy bills a major concern for so many households, we want to help people to make energy efficiency improvements. We are also keen to provide more help now before the main scheme becomes operational in the spring.
“Our new Brighton & Hove Warmer Homes Programme is the most efficient and quickest way of delivering improvements. There’s a budget of £7.2 million which will have a significant impact on work towards meeting our carbon neutral targets. 
“We’re also doing all we can to start helping people now as winter approaches and a cost of living crisis is upon us. At Housing Committee we made another £600,000 available now through the Warm Safe Homes Grant scheme and the Warmer Homes consortium.” 
Read the full carbon reduction in housing report to the Housing Committee 28 September 2022 (agenda item 28)
Find out more about our commitment to become a carbon neutral city