According to a major government report into house conditions, council houses are among the most energy efficient homes in the country. The recently published report reveals social sector housing - currently undergoing a £40 billion overhaul - is much more energy efficient and is being improved at a faster rate compared to privately-owned housing.
The English House Condition Survey (EHCS) 2005 Annual Report, published on 6 June 2007, finds that social sector housing - long associated with draughty post-war tower blocks and cold council flats - is more likely to have effective insulation when compared to privately-owned housing. Over three quarters (77%) of social sector housing has cavity walls, compared to just over two thirds (67%) of private homes. Just a quarter (27%) of private homes have adequate loft insulation, while almost half (44%) of social sector houses boast at least 150mm of insulation.
Over £20 billion has been invested in improving social housing since 1997. The total investment will rise to at least £40 billion by the end of 2010.
The main measure of energy efficiency used in the report is based on annual space and water heating costs. An index is used to rate homes on a scale of one (highly inefficient) to 100 (highly efficient).
The social sector has an average rating of 57, compared to an average rating of 46 for the private sector. The social sector has improved more than the private sector since 1996, rising 10 points up the index. The private sector climbed only five points over the same period. Almost all social sector housing (96%) has a rating of more than 30.
The most energy inefficient stock tends to be older, privately owned, larger housing, which is often amongst the most valued housing.
Other findings from the 2005 survey include:
Housing conditions continue to improve. Between 1996 and 2005, the number of non-decent homes fell by over three million, from 9.1 million (45%) to six million (27%).
Social housing conditions are improving at such a rate that in 2005 there was little difference between the social sector and private sector taken as a whole (29% and 27% non-decent respectively), although conditions in the private rented sector are considerably worse than other tenures (41% of homes are non-decent).
There were significant improvements in housing conditions in the 88 most deprived districts. The number of non-decent social sector homes in these areas has decreased by 680,000 since 1996 and 300,000 since 2001. In the private sector, there are almost 900,000 less non-decent homes in these districts compared to 1996.
Across all tenures, housing conditions of the poorer and most vulnerable households (including families and elderly people on benefits) are improving faster than those of more affluent households, and consequently the gap between them is closing. The number of vulnerable households in non-decent homes has dropped by almost a quarter (23%) since 1996, compared to a 14% fall for other households.
In areas where homes are predominantly local authority-built flats, one in four households live in poor quality environments. This affects both social and private sector households living on these estates.
On average, houses are getting bigger. This, however, is because of a tendency to build houses with more bedrooms than in the past. The ratio of house size to number of bedrooms is actually getting smaller.
The EHCS monitors trends in housing conditions. The survey was run every five years up to and including 2001. From April 2002 the survey was re-organised to operate with continuous fieldwork that would enable it to provide yearly updates on progress on key indicators for housing and other government policies.
Communities and Local Government has just published the English House Condition Survey 2005 Annual Report.
The 2005 Annual Report follows on from the 2005 Headline Report (January 2007), and provides a more detailed account of living conditions in England.
The '2005' results are based on fieldwork carried out from April 2004 to March 2006, with a survey mid-point of April 2005. The results are based on a random achieved sample of 16,670 dwellings, comprising a detailed physical inspection of the dwelling (including an assessment of its immediate environment), and an interview with a householder.
Communities and Local Government Minister Angela Smith visited Hockney Green, Testway Housing's innovative environmentally sustainable housing development in Andover.
The development is not only green, but also affordable. Of the seventeen homes on site, thirteen are for social rent, and four are for shared ownership. During her visit, Angela Smith was shown internal and external eco-features of the development, from eco-paint and recycled furniture, to rooftop solar panels and wind cowls.
Three of the houses will be monitored throughout the year for their carbon consumption and electricity output. One of the houses will be fitted with both solar panels and a wind turbine to create electricity, and hopes to gain a six-star code level rating in the Code for Sustainable Homes, an achievement that would make it the first home in the country to be rated zero carbon.
A second house has been fitted with electricity making solar panels and should be virtually zero carbon - broadly the standard for a five-star rating in the Code. All homes on the site have a range of energy saving features to reduce the amount of energy they consume.
The Hockney Green development of 17 environmentally friendly low carbon homes cost around £3.1m to build. It is made up of 12 flats and five houses. Four of the houses are being sold for shared ownership to help people on lower incomes onto the property ladder. A 50% share in one of the three-bedroom houses costs £105,000.
Eco features include:
Solar panels: Water is heated by solar panels on south facing roofs. On overcast days, the water is heated by a wood pellet communal boiler and backed up by an immersion heater.
Wood pellet boiler: Positioned alongside the flats, the boiler is activated automatically if there is not enough heat provided by the solar panels. The boiler is linked to all the homes on the site, with meters monitoring individual household use.
Sun spaces: The homes are designed to require as little heat input as possible. All homes have a sun space the height of the building, similar to a conservatory, with a wall of glazing separating it from the outside. This traps the heat from the sun in the winter and creates an extra area, where residents can open doors into the other rooms. In the summer, this space may become hot so windows are available to open.
Heat store: The building uses concrete floors and ceiling, together with 150mm dense concrete blocks for the walls. Heat is absorbed by the structure, so a large change in outside temperature will not have the same effect internally - similar to entering a church in the summer, where inside it is cooler.
Thermal insulation: The walls consist of 150mm concrete block (usually 100mm), with a 300mm filled cavity (over three times thicker than normal).
Radiators: Radiators are located in the lounge and hallway, with a heated towel rail in the bathroom. The radiators are provided as a back up; In severe weather conditions, they are fed from the wood pellet boiler.
Ventilation: Ventilation is achieved from the wind cowls located on the roof. The wind cowls turn according to the wind direction. As the wind passes around the cowl it produces a negative pressure, which pulls stale air from the building, replacing it with fresh air. This arrangement is called 'passive ventilation', as it does not require any electricity to run it. It also reduces heat loss.
Lighting: The development has low energy light fittings, helping to reduce electric bills. Energy saving bulbs last several times longer than traditional light bulbs.
Garden watering: Waterbutts are provided to store rainwater, which can then be used for garden purposes.
In addition, the home expected to be carbon neutral will have a wind turbine that feeds electricity back into the National Grid. The turbine is capable of producing around 1400kW hours per annum and CO2 reductions of 500kg per annum. It will also have solar electric panels that convert sunlight into electricity that is again fed into the National Grid.
The second home in the experiment will have only the solar electric panels but no wind turbine.
The third home will have all the generic features mentioned above.
