Sustainability
Sustainability matters
We are on a mission to make our customers’ homes and communities and our business more sustainable.
As Oldham’s biggest provider of social housing we have a unique opportunity to make a big difference to our customers who live in FCHO homes and communities now and in years to come, and help the borough be the greenest in Greater Manchester.
On this page you can explore the ways we are reducing our environmental impact.
Watch our video to find out more about our plans.
We are on a journey to being a net zero organisation by 2030 and through our Sustainability Strategy we are focusing on
- Increasing the energy efficiency of our homes to help customers save energy and money.
- Building good quality, energy efficient and low carbon new homes through our development strategy.
- Boosting the biodiversity of our green spaces.
- Achieving net zero carbon emissions by implementing greener ways of working across all our operations.
- Reducing the amount of waste we produce and increasing how much we recycle.
We are carrying out improvement work on existing homes to increase their energy efficiency and help customers save energy and money.
We want to make sure all FCHO homes achieve energy performance certificate (EPC) band C - a standard the government is encouraging landlords to work towards where possible.
By doing this we will help customers to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and benefit the environment.
Between 2023 and 2028 we are upgrading 3,800 existing FCHO properties to a minimum of EPC band C.
We will be installing a range of energy saving measures, tailored to the particular needs of the home.
Improvements include:
- Better loft insulation
- Triple glazed windows
- Energy efficient doors
- Solar panels (also known as photovoltaic (PV) panels)
Read more about our energy efficiency improvement programmes.
Through our development strategy we are building a mix of sustainable houses and apartments for affordable rent, shared ownership and rent to buy.
All will be built to achieve energy performance certificate (EPC) level B or above and use low-carbon heating alternatives to fossil fuels – helping to meet future net zero carbon targets and providing high quality homes that are cost effective to run.
We know how important enhancing our green spaces is to customers and to do this our teams have a number of initiatives underway.
- Nature friendly zones including wildflower plots, natural meadows and native bulb planting.
- Tree planting to increase the number of trees and diversity of species in our neighbourhoods. We are working with City of Trees and so far have planted 59 new trees across our neighbourhoods, with more in the pipeline.
We have achieved silver status with improved performance in our annual SHIFT assessment - an audit of how we are performing against challenging environmental targets.
Sustainability Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT) is the sustainability standard for the housing sector and an independent assessment and accreditation scheme.
The performance of our homes and offices was assessed against a number of environmental factors such as the carbon emissions associated with our activities, energy and water use, how much waste we recycle, and how ethically we procure goods and services.
Our Customer Sustainability Champions come together from FCHO neighbourhoods across Oldham, with the aim of shaping our journey to net zero and delivering important benefits for our customers and the borough.
Champions meet every two months in a mix of online and in-person sessions.
These help members learn more about how FCHO is addressing a range of environmental issues and give group members the opportunity to share their views.
Their important feedback and opinions are shaping our work and helping us achieve the environmental targets in our Big Plan 2.0 and Sustainability Strategy.
We have developed a set of guides to help customers get energy savvy, save on bills and cut your carbon footprint.
From understanding your energy bills better, getting to grips with meter readings, knowing how the heating at your home works, or getting tips to save energy, our guides can give you the information and advice you need.
We are continually identifying opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of our work. Here’s a snapshot…
- Carbon Literacy Training for all FCHO colleagues
- Electric pool car for colleagues’ use. In 2023/2024 this covered 4,435 miles and saved 0.91 tonnes of CO2 compared to petrol car. That’s the same as planting c.47 new trees every year to remove this amount from the atmosphere over the life cycle of the car.
- Installed solar panels on our buildings at First Place and Primrose Place. In the first 12 months (2023/2024) this helped us save 38 tonnes of CO2, that’s the same as planting 21 trees.