Northgate calls for ‘eco-town’ innovation to be rolled out to all communities

1st November 2007

The innovative technologies and policies set to emerge from the proposed ‘eco-towns’ must be rolled out to existing communities as soon as is practicable, Northgate Information Solutions said today.

In a recent response to the Housing Green Paper, carried out by Communities and Local Government, Northgate welcomed the focus on delivering sustainable and affordable new housing but called on the government to ensure that mechanisms are in place for the lessons learnt from eco-towns to be shared as widely as possible, particularly where this improves energy efficiency or the effectiveness of service delivery to citizens.

Northgate also welcomed the announcement of additional financial support for the Decent Homes programme. Social housing providers have a strong role to play in delivering sustainable housing and in supporting local authorities in the ‘place-shaping’ agenda, and it is essential that tenants are enabled to make a full contribution to these processes.

The response also calls for:

• greater consideration of the use of financial instruments such as ‘green mortgages’ to incentivise home owners to reduce their carbon footprint;
• local authorities and the private sector to focus on developing ‘performance partnerships’ that deliver agreed outcomes, rather than products or services;
• the piloting and evaluation of innovative schemes to support older people to remain in their homes and deliver proactive services to vulnerable communities.

Joe Bradley, Managing Director of Local Government & Social Housing at Northgate Public Services, said today:

“We welcome the publication of the Housing Green Paper and its focus on delivering sustainable and affordable housing for people now and in the future. There is a pressing need for organisations in all sectors to reduce their carbon footprint. It is therefore essential that existing housing stock is well-managed, well-maintained and energy efficient, and we would like to see the experiences and successes likely to emerge from the eco-towns shared effectively across all housing developments.”

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