Social Housing Tenants in Strong Favour of Renewable Upgrades

A SURVEY of UK social housing tenants on attitudes towards renewable energy sources found there was strong support for their installation.

Roofing and solar manufacturer, Marley, says councils and social housing providers could be saving money on property upgrades in the long run by supplying eco-friendly upgrades for social housing residents.

The renewables and energy-saving measures include solar panels, heat pumps and EV charging facilities being installed.

The study finds that the majority of social housing residents are in favour, with three in five (61%) interested in having solar panels installed. A further half of residents (54%) would like battery storage solutions to maximise the solar generated power too.

The regions most in favour, and “very interested” in solar panel installation on their home are Wales, East Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humber.

Charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) were least popular, with just 25% of social housing residents being keen. But 40% – or two in five – social housing residents are interested in heat pumps being installed in their home.

“Solar panels are likely to be most popular amongst residents because there is greater education and long-standing evidence of their benefits and energy generation efficiency”, said Marley’s Director of Roof Systems, Stuart Nicholson.

Renewable Upgrades

There are an estimated 4.5 million social housing homes across the UK², of which just 233,061 have solar panels installed, according to MCS data³. With Marley’s study showing that 61% of these property tenants are in favour of solar panel upgrades and embracing solar power as a renewable energy source, it  equates to 2.75 million homes.

Stuart adds: “Some of these properties will be flats, but there could still be up to 2 million social housing homes that want, and could benefit from, renewable upgrades. And this would be a significant proportion of the UK that could no longer have to face high electric bills and could better weather the cost of living crisis and fuel poverty issues with savings made from solar.”

Marley believes that these property upgrades could be made to social housing stock during refurbishment projects. Doing so would help residents financially at the same time.

Stuart commented on the study: “Currently some local authorities and social housing provider teams unintentionally work in silo. Meaning that renewable teams that contact us for installations may not realise that refurbs have already taken place on that property. Or solar is being installed on roofs at the end of their life span. This means the solar panels will need to be removed while the roof is retiled, which is adding unnecessary costs and is not good value for money for councils.

“Working in conjunction – with the overarching goal being to create more eco-friendly homes in the UK – will mean more social residents have access to renewables and budgets can be more efficiently utilised in the process.”

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