A £10m fund for urban community energy projects, which can be accessed by housing associations, is set to be launched within the coming weeks. The scheme mirrors a £15m rural community energy fund, which was established by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in June. Housing associations and other community groups, including tenants’ organisations can bid for funds under the programme to develop clean energy projects such as solar PV.

Speaking at a conference organised by APSE Energy and Social Finance in Oxford yesterday, Fiona Booth, head of community energy at DECC confirmed the urban fund would launch imminently.

So far, the rural fund has only attracted 72 applications, with £700,000 of the £15m allocated and only one social landlord applying.

But Ms Booth confirmed social landlords were eligible for the funds and encouraged more to apply- particularly when the urban fund become available. Ms Booth told the conference housing associations could play a key role in developing the community energy sector. ‘We want to upscale and professionalise the sector, which is mostly volunteer led at the moment,’ she said. ‘That’s why housing associations and local authorities are so important.’

Details of the community energy schemes are available at https://www.gov.uk/community-energy.

At the same event, Stephen Hill - a partner at Eversheds Solicitors, predicted a ‘sea change’ towards solar panels on residential rooftops as funding ends for ground based solar next year. ‘What we are going to see is a sea change away from ground space and into building space,’ he said. ‘A large part of that will be housing association and local authority based, so I think you will see a lot of people knocking at your doors in the coming months.’