Warm and comfortable buildings
Emissions baseline
Emissions from commercial buildings are estimated to account for roughly 14% of GHG emissions.
Providing warm and comfortable buildings
Improving energy efficiency in homes and workplaces is vital for reducing carbon emissions, alleviating fuel poverty, and adapting to climate change.
Housing in West Yorkshire produces 3.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually (30% of regional emissions), with 26% from Bradford’s domestic buildings. To reach net zero by 2038, almost 700,000 of the region’s one million homes need improved thermal efficiency, with over 650,000 requiring heat pumps. It is estimated that 26.7% of households in West Yorkshire live in fuel poverty, and up to 49% in some Bradford areas face fuel poverty due to rising energy costs and inefficient housing. Only 32% of Bradford homes meet the energy efficiency rating of EPC Band C or better, lagging behind regional and national averages. Most housing predates 1950, making retroffiting complex and costly. Just 0.1% of households heat their home using renewable energy, and 0.3% use a combination of renewable energy and another heating source.
Over the last ten years, the average annual heating cost was £814 per home in the Bradford postcode area compared to £652 nationally, equating to approximately 15% of the district’s households living in fuel poverty. It is estimated that with the right energy efficiency measures, heating costs could be reduced by 31.5% alleviating significant levels of fuel poverty, whilst reducing emissions.
In 2024, the Mayor of West Yorkshire pledged to retrofit all 650,000 social homes in West Yorkshire by 2038. This commitment forms part of an emerging 10-year plan for Home Energy West Yorkshire.
The Future Ready Pathway suggests that by 2038, approximately 50% of Bradford District homes that are currently on the gas network will need to switch to heat pumps. The district will also need to see rapid further uptake of LED lighting, reductions in household water usage, an uptake of retrofitting measures (such as insulation) and a “near complete transfer” from gas to electric in cooking (for example, Induction hobs replacing gas hobs).
A combination of grant schemes, advice, retrofit and energy efficiency measures will continue to drive Bradford District’s efforts to create energy efficient, low-carbon communities and reduce household energy costs and the health and economic impacts of extreme or adverse weather:
- Home Energy West Yorkshire offers low-interest loans, information on grants and advice for retrofitting, including the new ‘One Stop Shop’ to be launched in 2025, which will provide a trusted energy efficiency advice hub for residents.
- Schemes such as Warm Homes Healthy People Schemem provide energy assessments, free guidance and minor energy-saving measures for residents.
- West Yorkshire’s Solar Together scheme facilitated affordable solar panel installations with significant homeowner engagement.
- Government and Council-backed schemes, such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, LAD 3, Great British Insulation Scheme, Warm Homes Fund and Housing Decarbonisation Fund, have supported insulation, heat pump installation, and energy upgrades for thousands of private and social housing units.
- Starting in 2025, the Council’s Warm Homes Local Grant scheme will deliver energy performance and low-carbon heating upgrades for low-income households in the district through ‘room in the roof’ insulation
- West Yorkshire’s Area Based Scheme (ABS) will address energy efficiency and retrofit across the region, with a focus on internal wall insulation, heating systems, and large-scale retrofits for Bradford to reduce energy bills and improve comfort.
- Social Housing providers such as Incommunities are committed to achieving a minimum EPC rating of ‘C’ for all their properties by 2030.
- Up to 5000 homes will be retrofitted as part of the Warm Homes: Social Housing scheme backed by investment from social housing providers in the district.
Mitigation and adaptation actions
- City Hall, and partners’ buildings, to connect to Bradford Energy Network
- Development of Energy Efficiency ‘One Stop Shop’
- Terraced street Internal Insulation pilot
- Social Housing to be minimum of EPC grade ‘C’ by 2030
- Substantial housing retrofit schemes
- Promote energy efficiency grants and advice
- Local Plan and Planning Policy
