The Committee on Climate Change has advised Northern Ireland to cut its carbon emissions by at least 82% by 2050 to help the UK achieve its net-zero ambition. This is the first time such a target for NI has been set by the government's advisory body.

The housing sector has a role to play in reaching this target. Several approaches could be used, including energy-efficient new-build developments, heating system upgrades, and retrofitting older homes.

The result would not only reduce carbon emissions but would also tackle fuel poverty and help people to save on heating and electric costs. According to newly released Housing Executive research, local households could save around £700 a year if their homes are adapted to meet modern energy standards.

Supporting Communities surveyed residents in Northern Ireland through the Amp Survey to explore the knowledge and awareness of environmental challenges and our own behaviour at home in relation to carbon consciousness.

The survey was sent to 183 Amp members of all tenures, and we had 76 responses. The majority were owner-occupiers then Housing Association tenants and Housing Executive tenants. We have also reached out to more private rented tenants with this survey and hope to grow the Amp so that we can speak more fully to each kind of housing situation.

Members were asked about their thoughts and behaviours relating to climate change and the type of engagement they would like in relation to decarbonising their homes.

Findings

The survey findings are summarised in five areas:

Affordability and perceptions of the environmental impact of current heating systems
Perceptions of climate change
Trusted sources of information
Communication methods relating to decarbonising homes
Carbon conscious behaviour

Affordability and Perceptions of Environmental Impact of Current Heating Systems

59% of our survey respondents agree or strongly agree that their current heating system is affordable. 82% agreed it meets the needs of their household, however, only 32% thought their system was environmentally friendly.

The majority of respondents didn’t agree or disagree that their system was environmentally friendly indicating that they may not know or aren’t sure if it is or not.

Perceptions of Climate Change

The vast majority of respondents felt that climate change was a result of human activity, either mostly or entirely. Only one person said they did not believe in climate change and three were not sure. Those same people also thought that their current heating system was environmentally friendly or were neutral on the agree-disagree scale about their system.

Nearly everyone who took part was concerned about climate change. 50% of survey respondents were very concerned about climate change, and 47% were somewhat concerned.

Trusted Sources of Information

Next, the survey looked at who respondents trust most for information and guidance around their heating systems. Overall, the most trusted source for help with a new system was the system's manufacturer (45%), followed by a trusted friend (38%).

Housing association tenants were more likely to trust their landlords to provide this information (71%) than Housing Executive tenants (14%) or private rented tenants (0%). Housing Executive and private rented tenants preferred to get the information from the manufacturer.

This question also allowed respondents to opt for ‘other’ where they could offer another suggestion. The majority of comments indicated a preference for an independent expert or assessor as a source of information about a new system.

Communication methods relating to decarbonising homes

When considering how housing providers might engage with tenants on this issue in the future, we asked about how they would like to receive information about a new heating system.

The overall majority preferred to receive a face-to-face demonstration from the system’s manufacturer. Looking by tenure, housing association tenants preferred to have information about a new system conveyed to them face-to-face by their landlord. However, Housing Executive tenants were more likely to say they wanted a face-to-face with the manufacturer or printed materials. Private rented tenants were less likely to want to engage with their landlord; they mostly opted for a print version of the information.

Carbon conscious behaviours

In the final section of the survey, we asked questions around respondents own behaviour, including:

How often do you switch off the lights in rooms not in use?
How often do you switch off appliances at the switch when not in use?
How often do you keep rooms not in use at a lower temperature?
How often do you separate recycling from rubbish?
When buying items, how often do you consider how easy it is to recycle the packaging?

Switching off the lights

There was a clear understanding of energy-saving here. For example, 72% said they always switch off the lights in a room that is not in use. The remaining respondents said they sometimes do. No one said they never did this.

Appliances off at the switch

This question elicited a more mixed response. 45% said they always do this, 51% do it sometimes, and 4% never do. There was no significant difference by tenure.

Keeping rooms at a lower temperature

This was also a mixed bag, 25% said they never did this, and 41% said they always do. Some of the never responses may be due to properties where it is not easy to control the temperature by room.

Recycling

88% of survey respondents say they always recycle, which is great news. Only one person said they never recycle. This effort does not necessarily extend to shopping, however. The majority (68%) said they sometimes consider whether the packaging on an item can be recycled, and 18% said they never consider packaging.

Conclusions

Our sample size remains small, and therefore it is hard to draw any statistically significant conclusions. However, the information we have collected is encouraging in that many people appear to be environmentally conscious in some of their behaviours, and most are quite concerned about climate change.

For housing providers, breaking this information down by type of tenure has started to draw out some of the ways tenants prefer to get information and who they trust to provide it.

We will continue to encourage social landlords to support the Amp Survey Series and help their tenants to take part.

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