District heating: delivering affordable and sustainable energy

Research report
By CSE and Changeworks for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
April 2017

Tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions from energy use are both strong drivers of change in the social housing sector. In the UK and Scotland, governments are encouraging the use of district, community, and communal heating to achieve both of these objectives, simultaneously reducing emissions and heating bills. This research examined how social housing providers deliver and operate district heating schemes and the extent to which these schemes are delivering sustainable and affordable energy to tenants. The study was jointly authored by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and Changeworks, and was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.