Industry Viewfinder 27 INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER
Holistic Approaches to Low Carbon Retrofi t at Scale
“How big a challenge is it to pursue a fully integrated whole-house deep retrofi t approach?”
INTRODUCTION With the housing sector having embarked on tackling retrofi ts of the UK’s approximately 4 million social and aff ordable rent homes – to save carbon and energy bills for tenants – it’s time to take stock of progress on this mammoth task. ‘Wave three’ of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (now renamed the Warm Homes Fund) has allocated £1.29bn of funding for projects to introduce a series of combined retrofi t measures to properties across the country, until September 2028. T ese are helping safeguard residents in around 140,000 homes against fuel poverty with better, more energy effi cient fabric, as well as achieving large-scale moves away from fossil fuel-based heating. T e ‘Warm Homes Plan’ target of EPC ‘C’ remains for all privately rented as
well as local-authority run homes by 2030, which will mean that the intensity of retrofi ts and upgrades is going to need to signifi cantly increase to deliver the scale required. Tenant comfort and safety is increasingly a priority, so larger numbers of air-tight homes providing greater energy effi ciency must be balanced with a focus on controlling moisture and ensuring ventilation, with damp and mould under greater scrutiny post-Awaab’s Law.
Our research study, which was sponsored by Eurocell Group, MIRA
Showers, Gemini Data Loggers, and Recoup Energy Solutions, sought to give a broad picture of how the sector is responding to large-scale retrofi t challenges. T e questions ranged from the solutions and approaches being chosen, to the obstacles to ‘holistic’ whole-house design which tackles the task in one fell swoop. What retrofi t and new-build solutions are being adopted to meet environmental targets, improve thermal comfort, and ensure long-term occupant wellbeing? How are the key decisions on solutions being made – and how have strategies evolved since our last research survey on the topic in 2023? Respondents included housing associations, local authorities, social housing
organisations, and private landlords, and a good number (44%) were engaged in ‘deep retrofi t’ projects, therefore at-scale low energy retrofi ts of properties based around a ‘whole-house’ approach which tackled fabric, renewables and all other factors simultaneously. We were particularly keen to discover what’s working, what had changed
since 2024, and how the supply chain is assisting professionals. Our white paper provides the unique fi ndings from this research, thereby shedding light
Housing Management & Maintenance Spring 2026
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