Onward Homes publishes latest ESG report
Onward has published its third Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, highlighting the organisation’s commitment to build more genuinely affordable homes and invest in improvements to make existing ones easier to run.
Over the last twelve months, Onward has built 329 new homes, its highest annual total and completed its first retrofit programme in Murdishaw, Runcorn. Since then, Onward has delivered energy efficiency improvements to a further 128 homes supported by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2.1, which will be used to improve over 600 homes across its neighbourhoods.
Bronwen Rapley, Chief Executive at Onward, said:
“Our ESG report sets out examples of how we are making The Onward Difference, whether that is building new homes, carrying out energy efficiency improvements, or investing in training so that we can deliver an excellent customer service.
“Over the last twelve months, we have built more homes than in the previous year, helping even more people across our neighbourhoods to find a place to call home. We are on track to deliver our first fully net zero development and have invested £5.2million in energy efficiency upgrades to make our existing homes warmer and more comfortable for our customers.
“All of this has been done against a challenging backdrop for the sector, demonstrating the strong foundations that we have in place to deliver for our customers. ESG isn’t just something we report on; our social purpose underpins everything that we do as an organisation. We will continue to build on the progress we have made this year, guided by our commitment to enable customers to be their best, in homes they love, and places they are proud of.”
Onward’s ESG report sets out annual performance against the criteria set out by the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing. Highlights from 2023/24 include:
- Investing £77.2 million in improvements to existing homes.
- Supporting 3,095 customers with the cost of living, securing £3.3million in additional income.
- 99.98% of homes met the Decent Homes Standard.
- Progressing with the first fully net zero development in Wallasey, Wirral in partnership with Starship.
This year, Onward retained its G1/V2 grading following an in-depth assessment by the Regulator of Social Housing and its top A1 credit rating from Moodys, demonstrating the solid foundations that the organisation has to deliver its Corporate Plan in the years ahead.