Practical Ways to Accelerate Social Housing Retrofits
The nation urgently needs more energy-efficient homes. Accelerating retrofit programmes will bring relief for millions of people from the anxiety of high energy costs. It will also reduce overall UK demand for energy and reliance on fossil fuels.
And yet, even though funding is available, the rate of retrofits being carried out to social housing represents a drop in a relentlessly rising ocean. What needs to happen to deliver the benefits of energy efficiency retrofits to more people sooner?
How Big is the Task?
There are over 4 million social homes in the UK. A substantial percentage of these currently have an EPC rating lower than ‘C’. There isn’t a precise figure for the number of social homes in urgent need of an energy efficiency upgrade. According to the BEIS, as of October 2021 only 47% of providers were familiar with the EPC rating of a ‘very high proportion’ of their properties.
It’s a reasonable assumption that there are millions of people living in social homes who need help.
Accessing Funds
Retrofits can be expensive. Estimates for the cost of upgrading the average home (whatever that means) to meet net zero performance are typically more than £20,000. The total cost for social housing providers could be as high as £100bn.
The government has already committed £3.8bn through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). While this is a long way from the total needed it’s enough for providers to make serious inroads into insulating their hardest to heat homes. There are other sources of funding that can be exploited too.
Only £220m of the SDHF had been spent or committed up to the end of the 2021/22 financial year. So, in theory, there’s plenty of funding available or in the pipeline. Yet the BEIS found that only a third of social housing providers were aware of the SHDF.
Step one is to build a team and a process to secure the funds you need. Providers need skilled bid writers. They must also demonstrate that they have a costed plan based on accurate stock condition assessments and a detailed programme of works. Osborne can help with all of these aspects.
Execution
Once funding is secured, the urgency of the energy crisis makes efficient execution essential. Here you need an established supply chain, proven methods, and experience of delivering energy-efficiency upgrades at scale. While there’s always something to learn from experience, this should be at the detail level rather than the basics.
Osborne has delivered large-scale energy efficiency upgrade programmes, including the all-important resident engagement. By working in a carefully structured way we minimise the time between funding approval and programme completion.
For ideas about how to approach zero carbon retrofit at scale visit our resource centre. Or contact Nick Davidge ([email protected]).
