Homes England - Legal Framework - 2026-27 Carbon Inventory Support

This commission is for project support in the delivery of Homes England's annual carbon inventory.\r

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Homes England is committed to embedding sustainability and robust environmental governance across its operations, investments and development activities. As part of this commitment, the Agency annually compiles an organisational greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory to quantify, monitor and report emissions associated with its operations and activities.\r

The carbon inventory supports Homes England sustainability objectives and government objectives related to decarbonisation. Each year key outputs from the carbon inventory are reported in the Sustainability and TCFD reports within the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts.\r

Four carbon inventories have been completed to date, covering the reporting periods 2022/23 to 2025/26. Over successive reporting cycles, the inventory has matured through improvements in reporting boundaries, methodology, data quality, governance arrangements and emission calculations establishing a robust and repeatable procedure. This procedure now provides an established basis for annual reporting and performance monitoring.\r

The 2026/27 reporting cycle presents several new challenges and opportunities for further development. Most notably, Homes England has established the National Housing Bank (NHB) as a new business function. The incorporation of NHB activities within organisational emissions reporting requires a review of organisational boundaries, governance arrangements, data ownership, emissions sources and reporting requirements to ensure the inventory remains consistent with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and relevant government reporting requirements. \r

Homes England also wishes to further improve the accuracy and transparency of reporting associated with Scope 3 emissions, specifically Purchased Goods and Services (Category 1) and Investments (Category 15). Whilst robust methodologies are currently in place, Homes England wants to explore opportunities to move beyond high-level spend-based estimates where appropriate; improve categorisation of expenditure and investments; investigate the availability of supplier or activity-specific data; and identify practical approaches that increase accuracy whilst remaining proportionate and repeatable.\r

Homes England also currently accounts for relevant land sector emissions within its organisational carbon inventory. In light of the publication of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance, the commission should include a review of Homes England's existing approach to land sector emissions and removals against the new requirements. \r

Homes England will retain ownership and responsibility for the organisational carbon inventory and associated reporting decisions. The consultant will provide independent technical advice, challenge, and quality assurance of the inventory, with all material methodological decisions and changes subject to agreement w