Sustainability

Committing to environmentally responsible homes and communities

Our commitment to making homes warmer, healthier, and more energy efficient

We’re committed to being proactive about sustainability and making sure our homes are fit for the future. That’s why we’ve promised that 100% of our homes will reach EPC band C by 2030, in line with Government standards.

What we’re doing

Our Energy Efficiency Improvements Programme sets out how many homes we need to upgrade each year to reach our 2030 goal. Wherever we can, we’ll coordinate this work with other planned maintenance to keep disruption to a minimum.

What are the benefits?

These upgrades are designed to reduce energy use and make homes healthier and more comfortable. We take a fabric‑first approach, which means improving insulation and ventilation first. This helps prevent damp and mould, and makes it easier to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

If a home needs further improvements, we may look at options like:

Low‑energy lighting
Smart heating controls
Solar panels
Air Source Heat Pumps

Our investment

We’ve set aside £2.4 million for energy‑efficiency upgrades in the 2026/27 financial year. Most customers whose homes are included this year have already had their surveys completed.

We closely monitor our programmes to make sure we’re delivering value for money and making the best use of available funding. This helps us upgrade as many homes as possible and stay on track to meet the Government’s 2030 target.

One Manchester development with exterior light brown brickwork

Prioritising sustainability

We’re committed to creating homes and communities that are fit for the future. We’re working hard to reduce carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency, and run our business in a more environmentally responsible way.

Here’s how we’re making a difference:

Using greener, more sustainable building materials
Improving the energy efficiency of our homes through our retrofitting programme
Offering low-carbon heating and energy solutions
Reducing our environmental impact across the business
Building new homes that are fit for the future and meet national climate targets
Committed to upgrade all homes to at least EPC rating C by 2028
Secured £2.9 million from the Social Housing Quality Fund, matched by our own investment, to upgrade over 400 homes and cut carbon emissions

Read our Sustainability Strategy to learn more about our plans and progress

Retrofitting your homes

We’re dedicated to making your homes greener and more energy-efficient. Through our retrofitting programme, we’re upgrading your homes to meet at least an EPC rating of C by 2028, helping to cut carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

If your home is selected for any improvement works, we’ll be in touch by letter to explain more about the planned work and what to expect.

A climate emergency

In July 2019, Manchester declared a climate emergency and set an objective for the city to be carbon zero by 2038. This is 12 years before the UK-wide 2050 target and will require emissions to be reduced by 13% every year until 2038. At One Manchester, we fully support this and are committed to developing sustainable homes as part of the objective. You can find out more about how we’re doing this below.

Reduced the need for energy through better building design

We’re increasing the insulation levels and airtightness of our new homes to stop heat and energy escaping from the homes. This also means we have to include different ventilation systems, such as mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, to ensure our homes are comfortable to live in.

Reduced carbon emissions in the build process

We’re adopting Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) on our latest developments, which includes using structurally insulated panels which help reduce the build time significantly. We’re also working to ensure the materials we use have a low carbon content, including timber for the frames rather than blocks.

Put renewable energy in place wherever possible

On some of our developments, we’ve installed renewable energy sources such as air source heat pumps to replace the need for fossil fuels. Moving forward, all our new properties will have a mix of renewable heating and electric systems installed instead of gas. We’re also retrofitting many of our older homes to improve the environmental impact of their heating systems.