Coastline has received the SHIFT Gold standard for the very first time, marking a significant step towards environmental sustainability.
The award from Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT), provides an independent environmental assessment for the housing sector and supports landlords in their journey towards net zero.
Coastline received the Gold award by showing a strong commitment to sustainability across various areas including existing homes, new build standards, leadership and supply chain.
Maia Rouse, Coastline’s Sustainability and Carbon Analyst, said: “Achieving SHIFT Gold accreditation highlights our ongoing commitment and dedication to sustainability, embedding this into everything we do.
“It’s a major milestone in our journey towards net zero, and we’re excited to keep pushing forward with innovative, environmentally responsible housing solutions.
“The SHIFT assessment has helped us better understand our environmental impact and identify areas for improvement, and we’re committed to building on this success to create lasting change for our communities and the local environment.”
The report outlines Coastline’s most recent environmental performance, based on primary data which has been processed using nationally recognised methodologies.
In cases where such methodologies were unavailable, SHIFT applied its own approaches, developed through its specialism in the social housing sector and the best available scientific knowledge.
Coastline is encouraged to take steps outlined in this report to ensure effective management of resources, leading to sustainable stock and operations. Beyond the environmental necessity, there is significant evidence demonstrating the financial advantages of these actions.
The report states: “To help identify the most important actions, SHIFT graded each action against a set of criteria. The more criteria that are met, the higher the priority for the action. Landlords who take time to improve data quality and monitor their environmental performance, tend to perform better score wise.”
Summary of report
Existing Homes
Energy performance data was extracted by Coastline’s Sustainability & Carbon Analyst from their asset management database, Asprey, which indicated an average Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) of 74.13 has been achieved across their housing stock.
Fuel Poverty
Consulting Coastline’s asset management database, 3,856 properties are believed to be EPC C or above. This equates to 82.8% of Coastline’s stock.
District and Communal Heating
Coastline identified 131 communally heated properties. The relevant 2024 Defra conversion factors have been applied to the total 1,432,208 kWh of gas used in Coastline’s communally heated homes. This equates to 10,932.89 kWh per home managed and 261.95 tonnes CO2 e.
Domestic Recycling
SHIFT estimates that 9% of Coastline’s homes have internal recycle bins fitted, using build date assumptions. Based on the data provided, 100% of residents were passively engaged in domestic or bulky waste disposal during the reporting period through the ‘Greener Living’ section on the website, as well information in the Spring 2024 Coastline magazine.
Furthermore, 15.78% of residents were actively engaged as Coastline held several litter-picking events and removed several truckloads of waste on Coastline estates. Based on the assumed internal recycling bins installed and resident engagement, there is a 4.96% increase in the likelihood of residents diverting waste from landfill is estimated.
Fly Tipping
313 fly tipping incidents were recorded by Coastline over the reporting period, equating to 67.21 per 1000 homes.
Biodiversity and green spaces
Using property type information provided on Coastline’s asset database, and tree survey data provided for previous SHIFT assessments, the SHIFT biodiversity tool estimated 6.77 tonnes of above ground biomass per hectare of land owned, which equates to 465.36 tonnes of biomass across Coastline’s stock. A new asset project is ongoing to improve GIS mapping and for SHIFT 2026 more accurate and detailed data will be provided.
Homes resilient to flooding
Coastline provided the results from their flood risk assessment in the asset data template, which included low, medium and high-risk properties as requested. The data indicated that 96.78% of homes are at low risk of flooding.
Homes resilient to overheating
The SHIFT overheating risk assessment uses information on housing stock property types, postcodes, communal heating and build dates along with SHIFT sourced data on risk factors such as the urban heat island effect and population density to estimate overheating risk in Coastline’s housing stock. It is estimated that 87.2% of Coastline’s homes are at low risk of overheating.
Resident Engagement – energy efficiency
100% of residents have access to energy efficiency advice through Coastline’s website and their twice yearly magazine.
Coastline made a number of home visits, held group meetings and made payments to customers totalling £164,856.10 through their sustainability fund, which supports and informs customers on reducing energy usage in the home.
Based on the evidence, 44.11% of residents are considered actively engaged on energy efficiency. These measures resulted in a SHIFT score of 3 out of 3 for performance on resident engagement on energy efficiency.
Sustainable transport
For sustainable transport facilities it has been estimated that 7.3% of Coastline‘s homes have cycle storage facilities provided based on build date assumptions. Coastline provided data showing 1.07% of homes have EV charging infrastructure at their homes.
Address specific sustainable transport advice is also provided to residents in new developments, therefore an estimated 3.26% of customers have received this information. As a result of Coastline’s sustainable transport interventions, the increased likelihood of residents using sustainable transport is 2.96%.
New Build
The data indicated that 21.05% of homes achieved a high EPC B (SAP 86-91), 47.37% of homes were rated as a low EPC B (SAP 81-85), and 31.58% of homes were rated as an EPC C (SAP 69-80).
It is highly recommended that Coastline builds more homes to an EPC Grade A (SAP 92+ minimum). Coastline recognises that this will help bring up its average energy efficiency closer to environmentally safe levels and reduce the level of investment needed in its existing stock in order to achieve the net-zero 2050 target.
Energy usage
Coastline provided updated energy data for their office spaces. Office emissions have been calculated using the Defra carbon conversion factors. In total, it was estimated that 55.51 tonnes of CO2 e were emitted in the assessment period, which equates to 33.76 kg CO2e per m2 of office space.
Other landlord supply
Coastline identified 1,130,957 kWh of communal area usage during the reporting period. The associated CO2 was calculated using the relevant Defra conversion factors. This totalled 237.66 tonnes CO2 e or 51.03 kg CO2e / home managed.
Business mileage
Based on the evidence provided, it is estimated that 28.79 tonnes CO2 e or 6.18 kg CO2 e per home managed, was emitted through business travel.
Water
Coastline provided data for 245 days of water usage at Coastline House. When scaled up to 365 days, 589.96 m3 of water was used at Coastline House. This equates to 4.13 m3 per employee. In addition to office water usage, Coastline also reported 8,903 m3 of landlord supplied water to communal areas.
Waste
Coastline provided a waste report from their office waste contractor, Suez, which indicates 7.07 tonnes of waste was produced at Coastline House. This equates to 49.45 kg per employee.
Office consumables
Coastline does not have an office consumable supplier, and these are instead purchased on an adhoc basis. The SHIFT office consumables calculator estimated that 42.50% of consumables are responsibly sourced.
Offices adapted to flooding and overheating risk
Coastline analysed the Environment Agency’s Flood Risk and identified that Coastline House is at low risk of flooding. No official overheating survey of Coastline’s offices has been conducted, but it is documented that all offices are at low risk to overheating. Staff have not reported any overheating issue at the office spaces.
Strategy and Management
Coastline’s environmental strategy has not been updated since last year’s report, so the previous comments and recommendations remain valid. The organisation currently scores 8.07 out of 15. Coastline has confirmed that its new environmental strategy for 2025–2029 has been approved by the board, however, as this strategy was not active during the reporting period, it has not been assessed.
Direct Labour Organisation (DLO) and supply chain
Coastline provided the litres of petrol and diesel bought for fleet vehicles, as well as the mileage driven in its electric DLO fleet. The DLO accounted for 53.09% of spend. In total, Coastline’s fleet produced 204.71 tonnes CO2 e. Additionally, carbon emissions from two external contractors accounting for 33.9% of spend, were accepted.
Of these two suppliers, Coastline was unable to provide their % spend with Bradfords, so the default of 1% has been applied. When emissions are scaled up to represent 100% of the supply chain, this totals 333.77 tonnes CO2 e or 71.67 kgs per home managed.
The total embodied carbon for Coastline’s DLO and supply chain has been estimated to be 181.62 tonnes CO2 e, which is equivalent to 39kgs per home managed.
Responsibly sourced maintenance materials
Coastline provided its DLO’s waste report, however, the disposal method for each waste type could not be determined, which means embodied carbon could not be calculated.
The SHIFT assumption is that any material disposed of by the repairs and maintenance teams is replaced by like materials, therefore the embodied carbon can be calculated based on this. The total embodied carbon for Coastline’s DLO and supply chain has been estimated to be 181.62 tonnes CO2 e, which is equivalent to 39kgs per home managed.
Refurbished recycling
Coastline provided waste data for their DLO and external suppliers. The data indicates that 98.77% of Coastline’s repairs and maintenance waste is diverted from landfill.
SHIFT carries out a full range of environmental reporting in the social housing sector, including:
- SHIFT standard – environmental reporting and accreditation for existing homes, new build, supply chain and offices
- Related consultancy and compliance e.g., ESG, ESOS and SECR reporting
- Environmental road mapping and strategy development – creating a path from a baseline to a truly sustainable housing stock whilst maximising financial benefits to the landlord
- Post-Occupancy Evaluation – comparing actual performance in retrofit and new build with design performance