Action on Empty Homes Joins 1% for the Planet as Environmental Partner

Thu 26 Sep 2024

Action on Empty Homes has joined 1% for the Planet as an Environmental Partner, meaning that companies participating in 1% for the Planet will be able to choose Action on Empty Homes as a recipient of their contributions.

Action on Empty Homes continues to campaign for sustainable approaches to housing delivery, first and foremost by advocating for the retrofit and re-use of the over 1,000,000 empty homes in England. Returning empty homes to use, and retrofitting them along the way, can help in a significant way to reduce the need for new-build homes and therefore reduce the carbon impact of housing in England.

Retrofit has also been a crucial part of Action on Empty Homes’ campaigning platform, with work ongoing alongside communities across Northern England to promote community-based retrofit of empty homes. In 2022 AEH released a report outlining the Retrofit Empty Homes Action Partnerships (REHAP) model, a tool for communities to bring together the institutional partners, funding, skills, and homes needed to facilitate community action on retrofitting empty homes. This work is currently being pursued as part of a three-year REHAP project.

A circular economy for housing means integrating long-term approaches to planning into the materiality of houses themselves - they must be made to be reused, and we must make a concerted effort to use them in such a way that their longevity is maximised. Investing in community-based retrofit of empty homes is an important dimension of the circular economy of housing. Retrofit makes homes sustainable by increasing their energy efficiency, leading to lower energy bills for inhabitants and lower operational carbon emissions.

Action on Empty Homes is excited to become a part of 1% for the Planet, and looks forward to continuing to advance its environmental aims related to retrofitting and the re-use of empty homes.