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Areas for action - Housing

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Housing is one of the most important issues in tackling climate change. Our population is changing and growing, and more people will be living in our borough in the future. Our heating systems and energy use contribute to the carbon emissions generated from our homes.

Energy costs are also a vitally important factor in everyone’s household bills, and the increase in these costs in recent years has had major impacts on the cost of living and people’s wellbeing. There is a great deal of information available about new, lower-carbon technologies, however many have concerns about whether these technologies are suitable for their homes.

We want to understand these concerns, and together with residents, produce a fair and achievable plan for how we can support residents to transition to net zero. Ensuring we have good, well insulated and efficient homes will help reduce energy bills, improve health and wellbeing, and tackle climate change.

More information on this area for action can be found in the Plan in the section titled “Housing”.

Proposed outcomes we would see across the borough if we managed to reduce emissions from housing by 2030:

Please note, these are borough-wide outcomes, and as well as requiring action from the Council, they will also depend on the action of a wide range of people and organisations, including residents.

O23: Effective systems are in place to link businesses and local education providers so that people have the retrofit skills to meet the housing challenge across the region.

O24: All homes in the borough will have an Energy Efficiency Band (EPC) of C or above by 2030.

O25: Houses within west Cheshire are using more sustainable technologies such as solar panels to reduce energy bills and improve energy efficiencies.

O26: Fuel poverty is reduced in the borough by working with our communities, by actioning the Council’s Fuel Poverty strategy and working holistically as a Council and with our Partners.

O27: ‘Welcoming Spaces’ (including council run places such as libraries, and community spaces, where people can spend time during Winter) will continue to be available for our communities during colder months.


To achieve the outcomes for housing, the Council proposes to take the following action:

A27: Develop communication and education programmes for our communities, supporting people to understand how to reduce their energy use at home.

A28: Support the installation of smart meters to be installed in social housing properties, especially while they are between tenants (known as ‘void’).

A29: Enact planning policies and strategies to create a positive and proactive environment to enable ‘net zero’ technologies in new build houses.

A30: Work with local industries and suppliers to develop standard retrofitting solutions for common building archetypes including those that are ‘hard to-treat’ (for example Park Homes). Homes will be built to industry standards, such as Future Homes Standard 2025.

A31: Work with local construction industries and business to encourage them to become accredited to environmental surveying, installation and maintenance standards such as ISO14001, Trustmark, PAS2035.

A32: Work with schools and colleges to develop education programmes around developing skills for installation of new heating technologies.

A33: Work with financial partners and regional local authorities to scope out mechanisms to enable affordable renewable energy and efficient products for housing.

A34: Identify additional areas of the Council’s property portfolio for retrofitting, such as adult social care homes.

A35: Find funding opportunities for sustainable housing and working with the ‘willing to pay’ market (those households that can supply their own funding for retrofit works).

Housing is one of the most important issues in tackling climate change. Our population is changing and growing, and more people will be living in our borough in the future. Our heating systems and energy use contribute to the carbon emissions generated from our homes.

Energy costs are also a vitally important factor in everyone’s household bills, and the increase in these costs in recent years has had major impacts on the cost of living and people’s wellbeing. There is a great deal of information available about new, lower-carbon technologies, however many have concerns about whether these technologies are suitable for their homes.

We want to understand these concerns, and together with residents, produce a fair and achievable plan for how we can support residents to transition to net zero. Ensuring we have good, well insulated and efficient homes will help reduce energy bills, improve health and wellbeing, and tackle climate change.

More information on this area for action can be found in the Plan in the section titled “Housing”.

Proposed outcomes we would see across the borough if we managed to reduce emissions from housing by 2030:

Please note, these are borough-wide outcomes, and as well as requiring action from the Council, they will also depend on the action of a wide range of people and organisations, including residents.

O23: Effective systems are in place to link businesses and local education providers so that people have the retrofit skills to meet the housing challenge across the region.

O24: All homes in the borough will have an Energy Efficiency Band (EPC) of C or above by 2030.

O25: Houses within west Cheshire are using more sustainable technologies such as solar panels to reduce energy bills and improve energy efficiencies.

O26: Fuel poverty is reduced in the borough by working with our communities, by actioning the Council’s Fuel Poverty strategy and working holistically as a Council and with our Partners.

O27: ‘Welcoming Spaces’ (including council run places such as libraries, and community spaces, where people can spend time during Winter) will continue to be available for our communities during colder months.


To achieve the outcomes for housing, the Council proposes to take the following action:

A27: Develop communication and education programmes for our communities, supporting people to understand how to reduce their energy use at home.

A28: Support the installation of smart meters to be installed in social housing properties, especially while they are between tenants (known as ‘void’).

A29: Enact planning policies and strategies to create a positive and proactive environment to enable ‘net zero’ technologies in new build houses.

A30: Work with local industries and suppliers to develop standard retrofitting solutions for common building archetypes including those that are ‘hard to-treat’ (for example Park Homes). Homes will be built to industry standards, such as Future Homes Standard 2025.

A31: Work with local construction industries and business to encourage them to become accredited to environmental surveying, installation and maintenance standards such as ISO14001, Trustmark, PAS2035.

A32: Work with schools and colleges to develop education programmes around developing skills for installation of new heating technologies.

A33: Work with financial partners and regional local authorities to scope out mechanisms to enable affordable renewable energy and efficient products for housing.

A34: Identify additional areas of the Council’s property portfolio for retrofitting, such as adult social care homes.

A35: Find funding opportunities for sustainable housing and working with the ‘willing to pay’ market (those households that can supply their own funding for retrofit works).