L&Q releases latest sustainability report
L&Q has reduced its carbon emissions by over eight per cent, its new Sustainability report reveals.
The housing association has released its second-ever Sustainability report and is the first to track its progress towards meeting its environmental goals. These include achieving net zero carbon by 2050.
A switch to 100% renewable energy in October 2021 has contributed to an 8.11% decrease in L&Q’s carbon emissions compared with the 2019/20 baseline, with reduced business travel thanks to new agile working contracts also having an impact.
The housing association is also improving the energy efficiency of its existing homes up to an EPC of C through a major retrofit programme and starting a roadmap to build new homes with increasing sustainability standards. Almost all L&Q homes - 99.7% - built between April 2021 and March 2022 achieved an EPC of B.
The report shows L&Q is on track to meet its target of building 8,000 new homes, at least 50% of which are affordable, by 31 March 2024. To help deliver its targets, it has also raised £300 million thanks to its first Sustainability-linked bond, which was agreed upon in January this year.
Chief Executive, Fiona Fletcher-Smith said:
“Since last year, new pressures have made the work we are doing on sustainability more vital than ever. The cost-of-living increases and rising fuel bills mean that the energy efficiency of our homes directly impacts our residents’ quality of life.
“We have committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050, and we have already seen great results, including a decrease in our total carbon emissions since the last financial year. We firmly believe that investing in sustainability is one of the best things we can do right now to ensure the best outcome for our residents, their communities and the planet.”
The new report shows the first set of results from the housing association, tracking three years’ performance against L&Q’s current environmental, social and governance priorities. This approach, and the adoption of the voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard (SRS) for social housing, demonstrates transparency and allows for easier comparability across the sector.
Read our Sustainability report (PDF) and view the performance tables (PDF).