Cambridge City Council - Cambridge net zero carbon private homes study

The city of Cambridge has a privately-owned housing stock of around 44,000 properties (including owner occupied and privately rented homes). The private housing stock includes a range of property types, from historic properties in central conservation areas to post-war and modern homes.

As part of the Council's recently approved Climate Change Strategy for 2021-2026, we have shared a vision for Cambridge as a city to be net zero carbon by 2030 (subject to Government, industry and regulators implementing the necessary changes to enable the city and the rest of the UK to achieve this). With homes in Cambridge accounting for around 31% of total carbon emissions from the city, decarbonising privately-owned homes in the city will be one of the key elements to achieving this net zero carbon vision. However, we anticipate that considerable investment will be needed to retrofit private homes in the city, as they currently have an average EPC rating of D, and very few properties in the city are close to reaching net zero carbon standards.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), 2020, UK local authority and regional carbon dioxide emissions national statistics: 2005 to 2018