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Learning Community newsletter | March 2025
Read on below as we recap a recent knowledge-sharing event for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2.2 grant recipients preparing for the delivery phase, share success stories, hear from a resident who is praising the Home Upgrade Grant, invite you to contribute and more.
North Yorkshire resident praises warmer home upgrade
David Fielding has lived in the quiet village of Kirkby Fleetham for more than two decades, but he has never experienced a winter quite like this one.
After 23 years heating his home with oil during the colder months, he’s now a proud advocate for cleaner energy and low-emission heating thanks to upgrades funded through the government’s Home Upgrade Grant.
Our teams were on site to speak with David, alongside North Yorkshire Council and sustainability experts from the council’s building design consultancy Align Property Partners, to learn why work like this is so important and how it benefits people like David.
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Innovative GIS tool assists local council with the prioritisation of properties awaiting energy efficient retrofit
Our Salix teams were on site to speak with council staff and discuss how the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is being used to support energy efficient retrofit and the benefits it is bringing to residents and their homes.
During our visit, the council showcased an innovative GIS tool that is assisting teams with the prioritisation of homes awaiting retrofit upgrades. Addressing priorities in what it calls a ‘worst first’ approach, the tool looks at a variety of measures to indicate homes in higher need of upgrades which address immediate risks including damp and mould.
Read more about the innovative tool and council approach.
Celebrating your successes
If you have examples of your own outstanding work (like the stories above), we’d love to hear about them.
Better yet, why not host a site visit? We’d love the opportunity to see your SHDF or HUG project first-hand and learn from your experience.
By inviting our teams to join you on-site, we're able to work with you to create fantastic content such as case studies and news stories that will not only highlight your organisation but also help others to deliver successful projects in the future.
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 Session recap: Wave 2.2 knowledge exchange
Organisations preparing to start installations funded through Wave 2.2 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund came together online on Tuesday 11 February to discuss key challenges, blockers and opportunities they’re facing with their works.
Key challenges spotlighted in the session included procurement, resident engagement, unreliable data, tight timelines and more.
Discussion amongst attendees provided advice and guidance and tips to unblock these challenges and enable project success.
Head to our website to learn more about topics discussed on the day.
Has your project successfully addressed challenges with procurement, contractor management, resident engagement or data?
We want to hear from you! Please contact our Learning Community at LearningComms@salixfinance.co.uk or complete the form on our website.
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Today
Learning from local authorities: best practice in resident engagement
Held online via Microsoft Teams and led by experts from Portsmouth City Council, the session will discuss the strategies, successes, challenges and lessons that have informed experiences and supported the development of best practice with resident engagement.
- Wednesday 5 March
- 3pm to 4pm
- Online via Microsoft Teams
Understand your Distribution Network Operator (DNO)
Join us and discover more about how Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) can contribute to the success of your projects.
Hosted from 2pm to 3pm, our guest speakers will highlight best practices and how to make the most effective application for a capacity upgrade.
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 Coming soon...
Keep an eye on your emails and our events webpage for upcoming Learning Community sessions.
Hosted by fellow grant recipients, the sessions provide personalised insight into successful strategies implemented in practice through our schemes.
Additional to our session on resident engagement, further topics to be covered include best practices in contractor management.
Plus, help to shape future schemes
We're also amidst planning a retrospective series for the Home Upgrade Grant as the scheme comes to a close. The series will support you the the lessons learned requirement of the funding and feed back into the report we share with the department.
This will be a critical opportunity to offer insight and feedback that can help to shape future policy and schemes – we hope to see you there soon.
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Don't leave lodgement until the last minute!
Make sure to lodge your completed property on TrustMark. Properties are only officially considered complete once they’ve been submitted. Since this process can be lengthy, starting early will help ensure everything is finalised on time. This step is also crucial for auditing purposes.
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 Get involved!
Do you have any insights, advice or guidance which would benefit the wider grant recipient network or is there a particular challenge you would like us to address?
Share your strategies, achievements or challenges with us and we’ll feature your insights to educate and inspire others in the community.
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We hope you found this email useful
We’ve sent you this message because the delivery partner’s/our system suggests you are a contact for a Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund or Home Upgrade Grant project.
If this is correct, you don’t need to do anything else and can stop reading.
However, if you believe this email has been sent in error or you are no longer involved in the delivery of project(s) funded through these schemes, contact your SPOC.
Please ask them to amend your details in the database and/or add the correct contact details.
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