How are pioneering social housing landlords trialling innovative ways to deliver solar power to their residents? As part of Energiesprong UK’s work under the Mayor of London’s Zero Carbon Accelerator, we’ve been learning from the front-runners to help Enfield Council to enable large-scale financed solar, battery and heat pumps. 

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The insights below are from the market analysis report we have developed as part of the free technical support we are delivering through the Zero Carbon Accelerator. 

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From off-balance sheet finance models to resident-led engagement, recent pilots by Clarion Housing, Hackney Council, and Camden Council offer a blueprint for how large-scale solar can be rolled out in social housing. Here is what you need to know about their ground-breaking approaches.

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Clarion Housing: Off-balance sheet innovation in Bromley

Overview

Clarion Housing, the UK’s largest housing association, is testing an off-balance sheet solar financing model in Bromley in partnership with Sero and Tallarna. By exploring the opportunity of setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Clarion aims to deliver solar PV, battery storage and renewable heating to at least 1,500 homes, with a guaranteed 10% energy bill reduction for residents, backed by insurance from Tallarna.

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Deep dive

• An SPV structure means Clarion can access private finance without affecting its balance sheet, while still maintaining operational influence via KPI-based contract management. The SPV will own and operate the infrastructure, selling generated solar energy back to residents, with billing and revenue collection managed via Sero’s integrated system.

• Careful risk management: Clarion and its partners have carefully considered the risk management of the project, such as setting up credit risk waterfalls between all parties and installing IoT devices to monitor energy usage.  

• Co-creating an engagement campaign: Surveys have been sent to residents, and there are a working group of engaged residents and planned community events to test the proposition and co-create the engagement campaign.

• Plans for scaling: Clarion hopes to scale this model rapidly once it’s been proven to residents and the Board that it works financially, and customers are happy.  

‍Key takeaway: This off-balance sheet structure can unlock large-scale retrofit projects when paired with strong governance and risk-sharing mechanisms; but the collaborative resident engagement is the absolute key to its success.

Hackney Council: Testing microgrids on apartment blocks

Overview

Hackney Council is piloting a solar microgrid on 28 residential apartment blocks, generating up to 1MW of electricity per year. The on-balance sheet project, funded directly by the Council, uses a concession contract with Emergent Energy who will manage the grid and take on performance and sign-up risk.

As part of a feasibility study commissioned by the Council, an independent market assessment was carried out to look at all the available models on the market. Emergent Energy’s model was their favoured approach because it enables the capital investment to be repaid, the Council retains ownership of the assets, and it doesn’t cost leaseholders through a service charge.

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‍Deep dive  

• Cost savings: Residents are expected to save 10 - 15% on their bills, and clever design choices (like selecting blocks with walkable parapets) have helped cut installation costs.

• Profit share arrangements: Any additional profit made will be shared equally between both parties so the Council can reinvest funds in other community initiatives.  

• Familiar branding: Hackney Light & Power, the Council's energy services arm, has led the branding and oversight, helping build trust with residents.  

• Plans for scaling: The pilot goes live in June 2025, with the Council already eyeing opportunities to scale the model across other apartment blocks.

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Key takeaway: This approach with Emergent Energy is currently only available for flats. The structure of the contracts is aimed to create a model that is financially sustainable for both parties who are incentivised by the profit share arrangements.  

Camden Council: Scale through simplicity

Overview

Camden Council has taken a turnkey approach to deploying solar and battery systems on up to 3,000 homes across the borough that are EPC D or lower. They are entering into a 30-year contract with an institutional investor to create an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) to deliver the project off-balance sheet with up to 20% savings for residents, thanks to battery storage and grid export flexibility.

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‍Deep dive

• The SPV is wholly owned by the institutional investor who are contributing approximately half of the capital investment. Camden Council’s contribution will be offset via the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund Wave 3 funding and HACT carbon credits.  

• Shared risks: Risks are shared between the Council and the SPV, and Camden will retain oversight of the procurement and installation of the solar to ensure the SPV’s contractors adhere to their ways of working, data protection requirements and social values.

• Senior level buy-in: Strong top-down support – via a Climate Board and Cabinet approval with delegated authority – has been vital to the development of the approach, along with weekly cross-departmental meetings.  

• Prioritising residents: Camden has adopted a resident-first strategy. Groundworks, its in-house resident engagement team, is identifying residents in fuel poverty to prioritise them for upgrades.

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‍Key takeaway: This is a packaged turnkey SPV model that can deliver large-scale upgrades if supported by internal buy-in, external finance, and focused resident targeting.

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These three pioneering projects show there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to financing solar for social housing. But they all share a common goal: reducing residents' energy bills while attracting long-term investment.

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As the projects evolve, eyes will be on how they scale, how risks play out in practice, and what financial models prove most robust.  

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Next steps for Enfield Council

We have carried out a Market Analysis report to assess the different approaches to innovative financing solutions available to housing providers for solar, batter and renewable heating, as part of Enfield Councils’ free technical support from the Zero Carbon Accelerator. We will now develop templates and decision-making tools to support other London boroughs to evaluate the best approach for their homes, which will be published on the Accelerator’s Knowledge Hub.

Sign up to the newsletter for updates.  

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We are also exploring whether the Enfield case study could be used to develop and test a procurement framework that will enable landlords to procure innovative finance solutions.  

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We look forward to sharing more updates on this soon!  

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Find out more about the Zero Carbon Accelerator: https://zerocarbonaccelerator.london/  

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The Mayor of London is delivering the Zero Carbon Accelerator in collaboration with Mott MacDonald, Energy Saving Trust and an alliance of experts in energy solutions, zero carbon strategy, retrofit, modelling, architecture, finance and more: ACA Studios, Altair, Ambue, Arthian, ClimateView, COWI, EEVS, Energiesprong UK, ERM, IES, Pascall+Watson Architects, Pollard Thomas Edwards, Retrofit Academy, S&J Consulting and Zerogram.

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