Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, Wave 3 and Subsidy Control Compliance

Applications for the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (formerly known as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (the “Fund”)), Wave 3 open this week.  The Fund provides grants to improve the energy efficiency and performance of social housing, by providing financial aid for the installation of energy efficiency measures and low carbon technologies. The guidance (accessible here) confirms that any grants made under the Fund will be subject to compliance with the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”). The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (the “Department”) shall have oversight of the process to ensure that subsidies given under the Fund are compliant with the Act. 

Small (those who own or manage fewer than 1000 homes) and large (those who own or manage more than 1000 homes) social housing landlords can apply for the Fund. For small social landlords there is no minimum application size and no obligation to include 100 homes in their application. However, large social housing landlords will be subject to a minimum application size of 100 homes in their application. The minimum application size of 100 homes can be met by an individual application or a consortium application. 

The application process will require the Department to assess the scheme and application against the subsidy control principles set out in the Act, and if social housing landlords opt for the consortium application route, then each member of the consortium shall be required to understand its own subsidy control requirements position at the time of making of the application to the Fund.  Where the Department concludes that an applicant is eligible for an exempt subsidy (such as the Minimal Financial Assistance exemption and the Services of Public Economic Interest Assistance exemption), it may chose to award the funding under such exemption – subject to the requirements of the exemption. If the application is not eligible for exemption, the Fund may be granted by the Department as a non-exempt subsidy in line with the Act. 

In line with previous Waves of the Fund, as part of the application and grant process, applicants will be required to confirm compliance with the subsidy control principles.  The guidance confirms that applicants will also be required to providing accurate information on their subsidy position in their application form so that the Department can make an accurate assessment and to upload the information to the subsidy control transparency database and ensure that the terms set out in any grant funding agreement in respect of the Fund are met. 

For more information on the application process, the Subsidy Control Act regime or the interplay between the two, please contact  Jonathan Jarvis or Joanna Bouloux.