Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) Social Landlords Competition - Phase Two Extensions 2013/14

Registered social landlords are invited to bid for money to support the installation of cost-effective renewable heating systems in social housing stock, particularly focusing in off-gas grid areas.

Building on the success of the past RHPP social landlord competitions, we are re-launching the scheme from 2 May 2013 with two new competitions each with an initial budget of [£3m]. The competitions launching on 2 May are:

• The “Fast Track” competition. This competition has a standard timeline in line with past competitions and is intended for landlords who have pipeline projects ready to go.  Unlike in previous years, there will be no limit to the amount of funding a bidder may request, subject to landlords’ bids complying with State Aid regulations.

• The “Reach-Out” competition will run on a slower timeline and is combined with a programme of events for interested landlords during Spring 2013. This competition is intended for those landlords who had previously thought the RHPP competition was not for them, who needed to find out more before committing and/or are in need of application advice/support. A funding cap of €200,000 (approximately £175,000) on the size of individual bids will be maintained for this competition to ensure a diversity of projects are funded

In addition to the existing RHPP objectives of driving renewable heat deployment and providing a stimulus to the renewables supply chain, our ambition for these competitions is twofold – to extend the reach of the competition to landlords who have not applied in the past and also to incentivise community engagement in landlords’ renewable heat plans.

To achieve these ends, we have introduced the following scheme changes:

• To support landlords who lack understanding of renewable heat technologies, DECC will be hosting a series of regional events during Spring 2013 to help social landlords consider their plans for renewable heat.

• To support those often smaller landlords who may lack in-house resource and expertise

                 o    We will welcome consortia of landlords who want to club together to pool their expertise/resources although each landlord will be required to put in a separate bid and;
                 o    We will also permit a reasonable level of consultancy fees help landlords to develop their applications

• Community engagement proposals of superior quality will receive merit in the assessment process.

The scheme application process remains largely unchanged but the provision of Permitted Development Right (PDR)/Planning Consent paperwork for ASHP installations will now be an essential pre-condition of payment under the new competitions (see Invitation to Tender document for further details). We have also listened to landlords who have said that they needed more time to install and extended installation windows to the maximum possible. We have also listened to those landlords who have struggled to provide socio-economic data as part of their applications – and relaxed the requirement to provide this data to later on in the process.

Finally, while the Phase Two Extension scheme retains its competition format and its VFM “floor” to ensure value for taxpayer’s money, landlords concerned about the time/resource burdens involved in submitting a bid can be assured that all bids received during the original Phase Two competitions were funded.

Grant levels

The maximum grant levels which can be bid for under the two competitions are set out below:

Competition Timelines

“Fast Track” Competition

This competition has a similar timeline to previous RHPP competitions and will be suited to Landlords who may already be in the planning stages of a renewable project.  There is no maximum bid size in this competition subject to State Aid regulations being met.

“Reach Out” Competition

This competition has a longer timeline combined with a programme of events for Landlords and will be more suited to landlords who have not participated in the RHPP Social Landlords Competitions previously and who are in need of guidance or support. Bids will be limited to €200,000 (approximately £175,000). Landlords may however take part in both competitions if they so wish.

Engagement Programme

We are pleased to announce more details of this year’s engagement programme.  The events will cover why heat is important, how to apply for the RHPP competitions, support and advice on the application process and the opportunity to hear from previous applicants.  We will be hosting afternoon sessions at the following locations;

To register your interest in the one of the sessions please go to;
https://response.questback.com/energysavingtrust/rhpprsl2extryi/

Got any questions? Please download our FAQs or contact us using the details on the Invitation to Tender document.

Ready to Apply? You will need the following documents;

• the Invitation to Tender for the ‘Fast Track’ competition (closing date for applications is 12pm on 28th June 2013) - PDF
• the Invitation to Tender for the ‘Fast Track’ competition (closing date for applications is 12pm on 28th June 2013) - Word doc
• the Invitation to Tender for the ‘Reach Out’ competition (closing date for applications is 12pm on 27th September 2013) - PDF
• the Invitation to Tender for the ‘Reach Out’ competition (closing date for applications is 12pm on 27th September 2013) - Word doc
• the Scoring Matrix (this is the same document for both competitions)
• a De Minimis declaration (if applicable)

The case study presentations from the Phase One winning landlords can be downloaded below:

• Southern Housing Group
• Hebridean Housing Partnership
• Warwick District Council
• Yorkshire Housing Limited
• Aspire Housing
• Chevin Housing Association
• New Linx Housing Trust
• Taff Housing Association
• Coastline Housing Limited
• Mid Suffolk District Council