Latest updates from Soha Housing

The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 came into force in October 2025. More widely known as Awaab’s Law, what’s been the impact on Soha residents in the six months since its introduction?

Awaab’s Law details several requirements of Soha as a social landlord. We haven’t had to change our responses hugely but we have consolidated and strengthened our processes to make sure we can help you quickly if you spot a hazard.

Social landlords must

• make emergency hazards safe within your home in 24 hours

• investigate significant hazards relating to damp and mould in your home within 10 working days

• provide you with a written summary of our findings, outlining what we are going to do to fix the issue, and when, within three days of coming to inspect.

• make your home safe from damp and mould (for example by carrying out a mould wash) within five days of inspection

• start additional work to fix the cause of the issue or prevent it from returning within twelve weeks of your initial call to us

We also have to provide temporary accommodation if we can’t make homes safe within the timescales, and this is one element of our service to residents that has changed notably since Awaab’s Law came into force, says Jude McCaffrey, Head of Housing.

“Residents sometimes might also experience other emergencies, including electrical or gas faults. We are carefully managing our relationships with private providers, as well as our own available housing stock, so that there will always be somewhere to move a resident in to in an emergency. The number of emergency moves made in the last six months already exceeds the number for the previous 12 months. It seems this need is only set to increase because of Awaab’s Law.”

If we or another social landlord doesn’t stick to the timescales Awaab’s Law requires, tenants can take legal action through the courts for a breach of contract (that is, us breaking the tenancy agreement we have with you).

Further elements of Awaab’s Law, covering other hazards in rented social housing, such as electrical ones, will come into effect in the next two phases. It will eventually apply to the private rented market, as well. The Law does not apply to shared ownership homes.

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If you identify something in your home that concerns you, just phone us (or ask someone to call it in for you). We ask you to phone so that you get straight through to someone who can reassure that we’re on the case. Contacting us by emails or social media messages means valuable time can be lost before we can react. A call to Soha won’t cost you anything if you use our Freephone number 0800 014 15 45.

Community initiatives across Oxfordshire were awarded grants by social landlord Soha in the last year.

In all, 40 applicants received funding. The projects were wide-ranging, including a pop-up community cafe being able to welcome guests at no cost for eight months, and training for Family Centre workers to run tailored summer holiday activities. For some initiatives, it was Soha Community Fund cash that was the seed to develop large-scale projects, such as a Community Interest Company in Wallingford.

Among the one-off events to benefit were a rural school PTA’s inclusive alternative to a fireworks display for the village and a cricket club’s family fun day that was able to offer fully staffed children’s activities entirely free.

Equipment purchases were made possible for a church organising a two-week summer club and a community kitchen which was able to expand its menu thanks to new kit. A foodbank facing a winter reduction in donations was able to keep up with demand, while a face-to-face advice service and a one-to-one reading scheme in a primary school also benefited – each of these initiatives a lifeline in their communities.

The Soha Community Fund also supported two Soha residents to access education and training to develop their skills and enhance their employment prospects.

The Fund opens again to applications from anywhere in Soha’s operating area – not just Oxfordshire – on 1 April 2026. Requests are reviewed monthly by a panel of residents and staff.

Find out more on this site at www.soha.co.uk/soha-community-fund/

When B shared that he had changed his phone number to stay safe from domestic abuse, it opened the door to vital support.

Soha worked quickly to help make his home safer and connected him with specialist domestic abuse services. At the time, he held a joint tenancy with his former partner, who had controlled the finances and left significant rent arrears. This made an already distressing situation even harder. 

We continued to support him through every step — helping him sort his benefits, manage the tenancy, and find a safe, long-term solution. In exceptional circumstances, the tenancy was changed into his sole name, giving him security and control over his home. We also helped clear the rent arrears and are now supporting him to move to a smaller home that better suits his needs.

Today, he says he “finally feels free” and is excited about the chance to start again.

In practical terms, that means that a survivor of domestic abuse was able to stay safe in his home. His tenancy was protected, avoiding court action; his financial pressures were resolved and long-term support is in place for a more secure future. 

If you are in an abusive domestic situation, Soha can help. Take a look at our website page Safeguarding: protecting vulnerable adults and children – Soha Housing which features agencies and other sources of help, or – like B. – contact us about something entirely different so our Neighbourhood team can step in. 

Soha Response, Soha’s repairs and maintenance arm, has been awarded national health and safety accreditation: Smas Workspace.

Smas is a scheme promoted by the government’s Health and Safety Executive. Its assessors evaluate an organisation’s training and work practices. Some housing associations, and many housing developers, have met the Workspace standards.

David Evans, Soha Head of Health and Safety, said: “We’re really pleased with this endorsement. It demonstrates to our residents that Soha Response staff take health and safety seriously.

“It’s the result of robust, practical and continuous training, alongside making sure we learn and improve when things don’t go according to plan. Being a Worksafe landlord also means we’ll stay alert to the best practice of our peers.

“Part of the evaluation process also involved showing assessors our welfare provision for staff.

“Anyone applying to work for Soha Response can be assured that they will have the right tools and training for the job and a safe working environment in which to deliver our services to residents.”

For further information on Smas, please see SSIP Certification | Smas Worksafe

To explore working for Soha Response, please visit www.soha.co.uk/careers

Soha’s Independent Living and Extra Care team is celebrating the renewal of a prestigious accreditation for its services.

Erosh is a national voluntary scheme that first awarded Soha its outstanding quality standard in 2019. The service has been monitored twice-yearly since.

The assessor noted a change in demographic in the service-users this year. Some of the new residents are moving in at a younger age and some are still working. This more diverse community is reflected in different needs for support and interest in involvement – both with scheme activities, or with Soha’s engagement opportunities – in any one location. The report noted that this brought challenges, but that staff were well trained and benefited greatly from the assistance of the Seniors Group of co-regulating residents. Their oversight of the operation of the service had, for example, led to them endorsing a Good Neighbour agreement for schemes with communal areas.

All providers of long-term housing and support services can gain erosh accreditation, regardless of how they deliver their services and whether their service-users are owners or renters.

Gem Batchellier, Independent Living Manager, said that the biennial re-assessment takes the form of submission of evidence consolidated by several days of visits, including to Manor Farm, Didcot, pictured below.

“We/ve received recommendations around communicating expectations – particularly around scheme improvements – which we will work on. We were pleased that the assessor noted a high level of satisfaction with the service from residents feeling listened to and that, overall, Soha ‘delivers services which puts customers in the driving seat’.”

There’s more information about erosh here.

To find out more about Soha’s Independent Living and Extra Care offering, please click here on this site.

68 involved residents joined us in Didcot this week to review the work of the Members’ Forum in the last year.

The dinner was also an opportunity to celebrate nominees for the Community Stars awards 2025, when all Soha residents were invited to say who makes their community a great place to live.

Nominations were received for 59 individuals – a mix of Soha residents and other stars – and organisations. They were all feted with individual citations for the difference they bring to Soha neighbourhoods. The categories were Community Champion, Good Neighbour, Star Volunteer, Green and Clean Star, Sustainable Gardener, Star Soha resident and Young Achiever. Two additional awards were made: for those who our residents thought deserved special recognition and for those who are champions for a safe and clean community.

Among the companies or community organisations who were thanked for their community engagement and, frequently, support or advice for Soha residents, were Driving Miss Daisy in Didcot, Tesco Community Champions, Cholsey Day Centre, Cholsey Volunteers, Dr Stephen Head, founder of the Wildlife Gardening Forum, Little Fishes Baby and Toddler Group, and Style Acre.

To find out more about being involved at Soha and becoming more a part of your community, see My voice – Soha Housing on this website.

That’s how Jane, a resident of Soha Housing’s first ever ‘net zero carbon in use’ development describes her delight in her new home.

Soha invited Councillors and the affordable housing executives from South Oxfordshire District Council to meet Jane and fellow residents of Cullum House, Wheatley on 29 January. The Council’s Affordable Housing Programme, providing energy-efficient general needs social housing, had significantly funded the development.

Cullum House is built on the footprint of a sheltered living scheme of 12 bedsits. It was demolished and newly built by R J Leighfield & Sons, creating 12 high quality, spacious homes. The eco-features mean that they will not emit any more carbon into the atmosphere than is taken out by standard domestic use – hence ‘net zero carbon in use’.

Solar panels conduct electricity to the communal indoor areas as well as to the twilight-activated lighting in the car park, which also has electric vehicle charging points linked to the individual supply to each flat. Each home has underfloor heating programmable separately for each room provided by an air source heat pump while mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in each home mitigates the airtight build quality. The flats are fitted with low energy lighting to reduce electricity usage. Jane says she’s relieved that “you don’t have to be a technical person to reap the benefit of the eco aspects. I’m anticipating savings on my energy bills.”

Pictures clockwise from top left: Jane performs the official ribbon-cutting; bats can feel at home at Cullum House, too!; the sliding-door oven in the disability-adapted apartment’s kitchen; the disability-adapted apartment is spacious with wheelchair turning space at every junction; residents, staff and guess gather; guests from the District Council, Parish Council and the developers against the backdrop of the bicycle sheds; one of the EV charging points in the car park (each bay has one); the shower of the disability-adapted apartment; an array of air source heat pumps.

Two of the apartments in Cullum House are fully wheelchair accessible with adjustable height work kitchen surfaces with knee space below, a low-level oven with sliding door, wheelchair wet room and thermostats and plug sockets reachable from seated.

Councillor Maggie Filipova-Rivers, Cabinet Member for Housing at South Oxfordshire District Council said: “It’s fantastic to see these affordable new apartments finished and welcoming people. Their many smart eco-features will help keep energy bills as low as possible. Partnering on projects like this with housing providers such as Soha is one of the ways we’re meeting the housing needs of our residents now and in the future.”

Councillor Alexandrine Kantor, the local South Oxfordshire District Council ward member for Wheatley, said: “It’s so heartening to see these well-designed homes with fantastic energy-efficient features now a reality. The finished apartments are really impressive and will provide comfortable, stable homes in Wheatley for many years to come.”

Soha staff working in the Wheatley community – known as the Locality team – also welcomed guests including Councillor Tim Bearder, County Ward Councillor for Wheatley, Councillor Alison Sercombe, Chair of Wheatley Parish Council and Parish Council colleagues as well as Paul Fielding, Head of Housing and Environment, and officers from South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils’ Affordable Housing programme team.

Berinsfield boasts a new community garden, packed with wildflowers and featuring raised beds giving locals the chance to grow their own.

The opening of the Berinsfield Community Garden happened in driving rain on Wednesday 27 March.

Inspired by local resident Mike Light, designed by Soha and executed by John O’Conner Grounds Maintenance, the garden is on abandoned allotment ground where ‘man-height’ weeds had made the land impassable, as Mr Light recalls.

Now residents can relax while enjoying all the birds of a typical Oxfordshire garden nesting in two boundary hedges while the front side, on Fane Drive, is newly fenced and gated making it safe for children to watch the progress of the strawberry and onion plants they set into raised beds on opening day. The beds are designed so that even the less mobile can garden with ease. This is a garden for everyone.

Mike says the initiative took more than four years to be realised, with Soha resolving safety issues around Thames Water manholes before he could draw up plans. A pest controller with a passionate interest in the natural world, Mike already had the enthusiastic backing of local children and their parents who were members of his nature appreciation social media page ‘The Berry nature of it’. He says: “John O’Conner have sown the lawn with 24 species of wildflowers to bring colour nine months of the year, attracting insects, bees and birds. It won’t be many seasons before hedgehogs will join them and the garden will be a haven for wildlife, too.”

Robin Bennett, South Oxfordshire District Councillor for Berinsfield was present at the opening. He said: “I know how much work goes into a big vision project like this. Green areas are always welcome, and the accessible ‘living’ space which Soha has brought about here will be so very beneficial to the wellbeing and mental health of the whole community. This was an entirely Soha-funded initiative but I’d be pleased to help anyone with similar aspirations to contact the South Oxfordshire District Council’s Berinsfield Garden Village team to see how we can support.

“In the meantime, congratulations to Mike and Soha!”

John O’Conner Grounds Maintenance, Mike Light (cutting the ribbon) and members of Soha’s Wallingford Locality team

Sarah and Kym from Soha’s Wallingford Locality explain what wildflowers visitors can expect to spot later this year

Muddy planting fun!

The welcome plaque marking the opening

Residents of Frances Curtis Court, Soha’s Retirement Living scheme in Wallingford, celebrated the first anniversary of its opening on 4 March.  

The party took place in the lounge where Style Acre operate a light bites café several days a week. A range of spaces for residents’ use includes quiet reading and working areas and a hair salon and nail bar. 

Twenty minutes’ walk from the town, the scheme is at once at the thick of the lively estate and, with its landscaped gardens, a light, bright and peaceful oasis. 

Frances Curtis Court’s interior was developed in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Council as the commissioner for on-site care 24 hours a day. This provision assists those residents who have already established care needs as well offering ‘peace of mind’ back-up for any tenant or owner.

To enquire about living at Frances Curtis Court, please contact retirementliving@soha.co.uk or to make an appointment to view one of the well-appointed, energy-efficient apartments.

Soha Housing and Makespace Oxford hosted a community open evening in Soha’s newly opened, publicly hireable space yesterday.

40 visitors dropped in to the Soha offices opposite Didcot Parkway station to hear from the The Didcot Powerhouse Fund and Makespace Oxford and view Soha’s Community Station facility.

Didcot Powerhouse Fund’s Chair and Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, Elizabeth Paris, launched its grant-awarding season for 2024. The Fund, set up in 2021 to tackle inequality and deprivation within the Didcot Garden Town Area of Influence, directs grants to community organisations improving local lives. Applications are invited, from 1 December 2023, from those demonstrating they “create stronger bonds in our community”. Grants ranging from £400 to £10,000 were awarded last year, in a total distribution of £80,000.

Makespace Oxford used the open evening opportunity to show at first hand how they revive vacant spaces to lease to organisations or individuals to generate social impact. One ground-floor wing of Soha’s offices was repurposed by Makespace after the pandemic – Station Road Studios is one location of eight across Oxfordshire.

The Community Station itself is a suite of three areas – two spacious offices ideal for private individual or small group consultations and a bright soft-furnished multi-purpose room with AV in a variety of seating permutations. All are available for hire in half-hour increments by contacting communitystation@soha.co.uk.

Sustainable Didcot hire the other large space in the Community Station from Soha. They showed visitors their area and talked about their plans to open a Climate Emergency Centre. The events and activities they have coming up can be found at Sustainable Didcot (google.com)

Photography: Hannah Pye for Makespace Oxford

Soha Housing, the 7,500 home social landlord based in Didcot, has received an emphatic ‘thumbs up’ from the Regulator of Social Housing.

Assessors visited the company in January and February to scrutinise it at a planned In-Depth Assessment. This is a check which typically takes place with about six weeks’ notice every three or four years.

The Regulatory Judgement, as the Government’s official view of a social housing provider is known, meant retention of Soha’s status as a G1 (the best governance rating) and V1 (the best rating for financial viability) housing association.

Kate Wareing, Chief Executive of Soha said, “Soha is proud to be local and community-owned. We are a not-profit organisation owned by our residents and reinvesting all our surpluses in building new homes in our communities and providing support. This is an especially important element of our work at the moment when so many of us are facing financial challenges.

“This judgement is reassuring, particularly in the current more challenging economic context, as it provides vital independent endorsement to residents that we’re well-run.

“For lenders, this demonstration that we’re financially stable and well run allows us to continue to build good quality, affordable new homes for those in housing need. We are also investing hugely in upgrading our least energy-efficient homes to make them more comfortable with cheaper energy bills. In a climate of rapidly rising private sector rents, Soha has managed to keep its rent increases for both tenants and shared owners for the coming year to 5%, below the rate at which most other housing associations nationally have had to raise their rents.”

The government’s list of regulatory judgements on all social housing providers is here: Regulatory judgements and regulatory notices: A to Z list of providers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Soha Housing can improve the performance of its least energy efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and help lower its residents’ energy bills faster thanks to government funding.

The government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2.1 (SHDF) has awarded the housing association a grant of £1.7m which Soha will match. This is part of the second wave of funding totalling £778m awarded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to social housing providers nationwide; it will speed up Soha’s work to improve the energy performance of 200 properties and get them up to a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Rating of C by March 2027.

Lee Hayward, Director of Property Services at Soha Housing, said: “Work will focus on the application of external wall insulation, installation of windows and doors and upgrading of loft insulation in our resident’s homes. We aim to have increased all Soha’s homes up to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2027 and for our homes to operate at Net Zero Carbon by 2050. We know building work can be intrusive however we will work hard with contractors to minimise the disruption for our residents.

“We will be encouraging residents to have this work carried out as it will result in cheaper energy bills, increased thermal comfort, reduced carbon emissions, and will mean we are helping to tackle climate change.”

Energy improvement work supported by the SHDF grant will start in the spring/summer and be completed by September 2025.

Notes

• Soha Housing manages over 7,400 homes across South Oxfordshire and neighbouring Districts from its offices in Didcot. The 200 homes receiving SHDF attention are spread across its territory.
• The government’s own press release is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/18-billion-awarded-to-boost-energy-efficiency-and-cut-emissions-of-homes-and-public-buildings-across-england
• For more information please contact in the first instance press@soha.co.uk or 01235 514427. Energy and Sustainability Manager Paul Neale is available for interview.

Soha Housing is joining organisations across the country calling on Rishi Sunak to ensure the Spring Budget protects those already struggling in the cost of living crisis.

As a member of PlaceShapers, Soha has signed an open letter to the Prime Minister.

The calls on the PM are
• Help to heat homes – by providing effective, ongoing support for those struggling to pay our energy bills during this crisis and boosting insulation so bills keep coming down.
• Make sure children aren’t going hungry – by expanding free school meals to all children, prioritising families receiving Universal Credit or equivalent benefits.
• Keep a roof over heads – unfreezing housing benefit so residents can stay in their homes as rents increase across the country.
• Give a lifeline when times are tough – by offering a system which treats residents with dignity and helps them get back on their feet when it becomes impossible to pay bills and for families to be fed.

The petition will be handed in to Downing Street ahead of the Spring Budget which takes place on 15 March. PlaceShapers, and with it Soha, was part of a campaign ahead of the Autumn 2022 budget calling on Government to protect those struggling. The 404,000 strong petition helped Government see the strength of public feeling. The Chancellor subsequently announced that benefits would be increased in line with inflation.

The opportunity to act as an individual is also available at https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/together-through-this-petition

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in England’s latest report on Soha, published yesterday, confirms us as retaining the highest ratings on both governance (G) and financial management (V, standing for viability).

The RSH carries out annual assessments of all social housing providers. Soha has once again been judged to be G1 and V1.

This news is welcome given the current challenges to landlords and the residents they serve. As a community-based mutual housing association, Soha is working with residents to mitigate the impact on households of the increased cost of living increases.

The Regulator’s latest update on judgements and notices can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-judgements-and-regulatory-notices.

A ten-month community project by Soha Housing concluded last week at a gala evening at Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot.

Our residents took part in in-person and online workshops to ‘Play with Words’ (the title of the project) on the topics of ‘home’, ‘community’ and ‘belonging’. They and their neighbours created and performed prose, poetry and music under the mentoring of Soha artist in residence Kevin Campbell Davidson of The KCD Collective. The backdrop to celebrating through the arts was Soha Housing’s 25^th birthday.

The picture shows rehearsal time for residents with Soha Resident Engagement and Communities Manager Jackie Logan looking on. Photo: Frank Dumbleton.

We’re pleased to play a part in The Didcot Powerhouse Fund an initiative of Didcot First, for improving access to services for the communities of Didcot and surrounding areas.

The Fund has just awarded grants to organisations making the difference around the theme of ‘Supporting Children, Young People and Families as we emerge from a Pandemic.’ Read more here (redirects to The Didcot Powerhouse Fund website).

Background

In 2017, Soha residents’ experiences of holding us to account formed a significant part of a Government Green Paper. In due course this evolved into The Charter for Social Housing Residents: Social Housing White Paper.

The Regulator of Social Housing is an arm of government which checks the financial viability of social landlords like Soha and ensures that tenants are treated well as consumers of the landlord’s services. The Regulator has wide-ranging powers to intervene when things aren’t right.

The White Paper requires the Regulator to examine whether the standards it expects landlords to work by are sharp and broad enough. The Regulator has decided to expand the consumer standards from currently four to six. You can read more about this at Regulator sets out six key themes for consumer standards. One of these standards relates to tenant satisfaction.

Next steps – two ways to have your say before 3 March!

Soha’s Members’ Forum represents all Soha residents and has already looked carefully at the changes to measuring tenant satisfaction which the Regulator is proposing. The Forum additionally wants to make sure that any Soha resident who has a view gets their say.

By a survey

There’s a survey you can take which goes direct into the Regulator. The survey responses won’t be seen by Soha.

The online survey link to the consultation is: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/RSH_TSM_Consultation.

Before you do the survey you’ll need to read what’s proposed. This is the overview here

You can find the proposal documents in a couple of formats – a very detailed one here and a key points version, which is here

Soha’s resident engagement staff can also provide more information about how we currently measure tenant satisfaction (chiefly by randomised general telephone survey and by individual service surveys) as well as on the new proposals.

Get in touch with them at ri@soha.co.uk or call them on 0800 014 15 45.

Remember: the deadline for giving your views is 3 March.

By taking part in a national workshop with the Regulator (online) on 9 February

If you would like to take part in this event: Tpas :: Tpas Virtual Members Event – joined by Regulator for Social Housing (free), you can book direct or via Soha’s RI team if you contact ri@soha.co.uk or call them on 0800 014 15 45.

Friday 19 November

Michelle Charlesworth, One Planet Living Community Champion, spent an hour with staff and Board on Zoom this morning. Did you know that each one of us is co-responsible for our planet using three planets’ worth of resources? The climate change emergency is real and urgent – but Michelle was here to tell us there’s so much hope!

But first things first: One Planet Living is a global vision – an easy to understand model which results in tangible action plans that can be translated into any community. Whole cities around the world have adopted it already. It covers ten elements, including consideration of how we use the Earth’s natural resources, through to sustainable food and transport. The vision puts social justice and improving the personal wellbeing of the individual, as they ‘tread lightly’ on the world, front and centre. As Greta Thunberg says, it’s with action that hope comes.

Michelle’s pedigree is impressive, with many years with housing associations in West Berkshire and Oxfordshire, to working on the Bicester Eco-Town, before joining Aspire Oxfordshire in the One Planet Living post which Soha is currently funding. She is also an activist, but makes the point that she’s not perfect – and, as her audience this morning can confirm, certainly not ‘preachy’!

Michelle sees her role with Soha as supporting the creation of strong, vibrant and sustainable communities: “I’m not handing out fish, I’m showing people how they can fish for themselves!”

Her objectives are to work with residents to identify three environmental community action projects per locality. Examples could include sustainable transport and air quality projects (cycling, tackling vehicle idling); natural habitats restoration (rewilding, nature audits, wildflower meadows) or carbon footprint awareness-raising. She’ll do this by supporting others to use the one Planet Living Framework to create action plans; engaging with various green groups/schools/caring institution in the different localities and empowering champions in the communities as volunteers

Returning to the theme of ‘hope’, some questioners addressed how Soha can mobilise a positive sense of the future – one which doesn’t major on how fearful we can all feel when thinking about the vast implications of climate change. Michelle intends to ask Soha communities what their vision is and help them work towards it – she says that we know from the world’s reaction to the pandemic that big change is possible and, furthermore, it’s possible quickly when people understand the science and the messages are clear.

Asked how we can arm ourselves with truthful information and not be swept away by fake news, Michelle said that one of the ways she does it is to look up (on LinkedIn or Twitter, for example) a scientist who impresses her when s/he appears on the television is saying. Whose views are they sharing or retweeting, what other assertions have they made? Is their work easy to understand? Do they move in a reputable network of thinkers on the subject?

Watch this space for the resource sheet which Michelle has promised us so that we can equip ourselves better with easily-digestible information.

17 November

Our first ever week entirely devoted to explanation, discussion, and commitment to action on the subject of the environment is happening now. Soha Environment Awareness Week 2021 will take over the bulk of our social media posts during the week 15 – 19 November with the hashtag #SohaEAW2021. We hope to run a similar campaign every year.

The sources and inspiration for the topics have come from The Soha Green Team made up of staff and residents. Most of the social media posts are containable within a Facebook post (linked to from Twitter) but some are more lengthy and will be posted here with the most recent uppermost.

We hope you will find something during the week that ignites your interest and encourages you that we are serious about lessening our impact on the environment and, importantly, giving our residents the tools to do likewise.

We grow together.

Tuesday 16 November

Continuing the look at our properties which has been the focus for today, here’s a piece by Lee Hayward, Director of Property Services, on where we are now – and where we hope to be #SohaEAW2021

Soha has developed approximately 35% of its stock since 2000. This means that Soha has a significant proportion of newer stock and these properties have been constructed to higher energy efficiency standards required by modern building regulations. It should also be noted that 37% of Soha’s properties are already over 50 years old and the remaining 28% of properties will be over 50 years old by 2050. All Soha’s properties are heated and have double glazed windows and insulated lofts and cavity walls, where possible.

In January 2020 Soha agreed to replace 681 properties that currently have sub-standard Electric Storage Heaters with either gas heating or Air Source Heat Pumps. These are among the least energy efficient properties that Soha owns and this replacement programme will do a great deal to reduce carbon emissions and reduce residents’ running costs. In 2020/21 we replaced the electric storage heater systems in 30 properties with air source heating systems and we are in the process of installing a further 120 air source heating systems in 2021/22. Soha received 70% grant funding for this work via the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive however this grant stream is currently due to expire in March 2022.

Soha has recently purchased an energy performance modelling solution called Intelligent Energy from Sava. Intelligent Energy provides insight and improvement planning for zero carbon. It uses data directly from our asset management system Aareon QL and calculates energy results (including improvement measures) with minimal data ensuring Soha has a picture of our whole housing stock, how its performing in terms of current SAP and EPC ratings. It also has the ability to produce investment plans that will identify what work we need to carry out in our properties to achieve the government’s energy improvement targets. This software will provide us with our baseline position in respect of our property’s current carbon emissions and SAP ratings together with a detailed insight into the nature of work required, how much it will cost and how long it’s likely to take to complete.

Soha has also committed to purchase Holmes Asset Strategic Software from 221 Group. The Holmes software uses data from Soha’s main housing management system Aareon QL such as management costs, repair and void costs, rental return, void loss, property age, condition etc. to return a Net Present Value for each property over a 30 year period. Holmes can quickly identify poorly performing assets and its Cloud based technology ensures everyone has the tools to hand to review and identify assets requiring an options appraisal. Its proprietary financial forecasting model will enable Soha’s Senior Leadership Team and Board to assess the long-term performance of its entire portfolio over a 30 year period which will assist us in making the right choices around asset retention, investment, regeneration and disposal.

Soha Homes – our targets

Soha’s ambition is to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 and improve the energy efficiency of its properties to a minimum of EPC band C by 2030 thereby ensuring all residents have a home that is comfortable, healthy and affordable to run. Figures produced by Bioregional Consultants estimate the percentage carbon footprint of Soha, both of its property portfolio and its business activity divide up as on the pie charts below.

These show that 80.7% of Soha’s carbon footprint comes from our homes’ regulated energy (heating, hot water, lighting etc.); 17.7% of Soha’s carbon footprint comes from our homes’ unregulated energy (electrical appliances, cooking, IT equipment etc.) with only 1.6% of Soha’s carbon footprint coming from business activities (please see below).

It is reducing the carbon footprint of our properties that by far offers the greatest opportunity and will require the greatest investment to make a positive environmental difference. This is therefore the most detailed area of this strategy.

Soha Homes – our actions

Soha must also carefully consider how it will fund the work required to bring its property portfolio up to Net Zero Carbon by 2050. Our calculations (see section below) have resulted in us estimating it will cost on average around £24k per property to upgrade Soha’s existing homes to net carbon zero. This is a total investment required of £148 million excluding grant. The Government has already announced a £3.8 billion Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). The first wave of SHDF funding was released in August 2021 for properties rated EPC Band D or below. The fund aims to improve the energy efficiency of properties to a minimum of EPC band C on a ‘worst first’ basis adopting a ‘fabric first’ approach.

A ‘fabric first’ approach to building design involves maximising the performance of the components and materials that make up the building fabric itself, before considering the use of mechanical or electrical building services systems. This can help reduce capital and operational costs, improve energy efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions.
The SHDF wave one fund will meet 66.67% of all eligible costs however the maximum contribution is capped on a sliding scale based on a property’s existing EPC rating, with the poorest performing properties being eligible for more grant. Soha aims to bid for the second wave of SHDF funding which is due to be released in Spring 2022. It’s vital for Soha to have schemes ‘oven ready’ as quickly as possible so this funding and any similar grant programmes can be accessed in future.

Soha is developing schemes carried out on its own land to an energy efficient standard that exceeds building regulations by 20%. However, the vast majority of our new build properties are still acquired via Section 106 Agreements and these homes are not currently being built to operate at Net Zero Carbon. Therefore these homes will require retrofitting ahead of the Government’s 2050 deadline at an estimated cost of around £20k per property.
Soha’s Environmental ambitions need to be dovetailed with the need to run an efficient and sustainable business that continues to provide new and existing residents with affordable homes. We will therefore aim to utilise technologies that are tried and tested and that we are confident will be reliable and affordable as well as environmentally sound. The decisions on the sequencing of our work (see indicative programme below) is designed to enable us to benefit from future technological advances and a maturing market before making very major investments in, for example, replacing heating systems.

During the first year of the strategy Soha will use data extracted from Intelligent Energy and Holmes to prioritise energy improvement work focusing on the poorest performing properties first and to help make informed decisions about the future of our stock investment. A detailed programme of work will be produced including costings to model the work we need to carry out year on year to achieve our targets of all homes being a minimum of EPC band C by 2030 and Net Zero Carbon by 2050. Future annual budgets will be adjusted as required to fund this work.
It’s anticipated at this stage there will be a modest asset disposal programme having considered the best financial and social impact for each property within our broader vision to build sustainable communities. Our financial modelling shows that we can afford to invest to bring our homes up to net zero carbon without needing income from property disposals. We are therefore able to commit that where a property is sold we will replace each sold home for at least one new Soha property.

Any decision to sell existing homes will be approved by Soha’s senior leadership team and ratified by Board and will be based on sound judgement including but not limited to a property’s desirability, estimated future management costs, predicted future maintenance costs to achieve Net Zero Carbon, Net Present Value, demand and tenant feedback and need for affordable housing in that community. Re-generation and retrofitting options will also be considered ahead of recommending the sale of a property or properties.

The next couple of workshops are online so you can join from anywhere! Wednesday 19 January, 2-5pm, or Saturday 22 January, 2-5pm. Contact ri@soha.co.uk or call 0800 014 15 45 (freephone) to get FREE professional mentoring to bring your words (lyrics, prose or poetry) to life!

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Soha today launches a major project to involve Soha residents, their neighbours, staff and more. Anyone who lives anywhere where there are Soha homes is warmly welcomed to take part.

‘Playing with Words‘ is a series of professionally-led free workshops to encourage creativity on the theme of ‘community’ in poetry, prose or music. The invitation is extended to anyone anywhere where Soha has homes.

Six months of in-person and online sessions with Kevin Campbell of The KCD Collective across Soha’s area will culminate in a performance in July 2022 at Didcot’s Cornerstone Arts Centre to celebrate Soha’s 25th anniversary.

The invitation to get involved with ‘Playing with Words’ is offered in 8 languages to inspire as many people from all cultures and backgrounds as possible to participate.

Find out more and where to catch a workshop near you by calling Andrea or Liz in Soha’s Resident Engagement team on Freephone 0800 014 15 45 or emailing ri@soha.co.uk.

Press enquiries please to press@soha.co.uk