A new mapping tool is helping to shine a light on the future of rural affordable housing in Berkshire by identifying socially rented homes with the lowest Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings.

Housing associations across the country are facing significant challenges in meeting the cost of retrofitting older properties to bring them up to current regulatory standards. In some cases, they have little choice but to sell homes and reinvest the proceeds in new developments elsewhere, often outside the village or parish where those properties are located.

At the same time, rural communities are experiencing growing demand for affordable housing, while also seeing affordable rented homes lost through property sales by housing associations.

To help inform discussion and support long-term planning, CCB has created the first map of its kind for Berkshire. The map identifies socially rented homes with the poorest EPC ratings at parish level, based on their most recent EPC assessment.

EPC scores are an imperfect but useful indicator of a home’s condition, and evidence suggests that properties with the lowest ratings are among those most likely to be considered for disposal by housing associations. As EPC certificates are publicly available, it is possible to identify both the ratings and locations of socially rented homes.

It is important to note that housing associations cannot sell a property while it is occupied by a tenant, so no individual household is at risk. However, maintaining affordable housing supply is about more than meeting current need. It is also about ensuring a long-term stock of homes and retaining a mix of housing tenures and property types within rural communities.

By mapping these properties, parish councils, residents and other stakeholders can gain a clearer understanding of affordable housing provision in their area and ask an important question: what will happen to these homes in the long term?

CCB believes that sharing information and working collaboratively across the housing, planning and community sectors is essential if we are to find effective, long-term solutions to these challenges. Drop our Rural Housing Enabler Maria a line if you would like to know more: Maria.Kelly@ccberks.org.uk

View the map for Reading West & Mid Berkshire here: