Public sector organisations across Greater Manchester will soon be able to apply for a new £28 million fund to help make their buildings warmer, cheaper to run, and less reliant on fossil fuels.
The Public Building Retrofit Fund (PBRf) will provide capital funding between 2025 and 2028, supporting work to cut emissions from heating and improve energy efficiency across our city region’s public estate.
This includes local authority buildings like town halls, state schools, community and mental health NHS trusts and foundation trusts.
It will support public bodies towards Greater Manchester’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2038 -12 years ahead of the national target – through emission-slashing upgrades like insulation, low-carbon heating systems, LED lighting, and even renewable energy such as solar panels.
Heating buildings accounts for 9% of the UK’s total emissions and switching away from fossil fuel systems like gas boilers is a major challenge.
Our five-year environment plan highlights how Greater Manchester has already taken practical steps towards our carbon neutral target by investing £120 million in retrofitting 225 schools, leisure centres and public buildings.
It also sets out how we’re leading a shift to clean green energy by addressing both risks and opportunities around climate challenges, as well as halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
It’s all part of our vision for the next decade to create a thriving city region where everyone can live a good life. By boosting resilience to climate change across our towns and cities, we’ll make sure communities across Greater Manchester can live in a safe, healthy, low carbon, nature-rich environment.
Councillor Tom Ross, Greater Manchester Lead for Green City-Region, said: “Decarbonising our public buildings is a vital part of our journey to net zero and this fund will give local organisations the support they need to take action.
“The Greater Manchester Five-Year Environment Plan commits us to creating a carbon neutral, climate resilient city-region, and retrofit is central to that. This is about reducing carbon, but it’s also about creating jobs, supporting innovation, and making sure the benefits of greener growth are felt across all our communities.”
