Tackling Fuel Poverty with Smarter Housing Solutions Round Table Review 9 BUILDING
INSIGHTS LIVE
Tackling Fuel Poverty with Smarter Housing Solutions
W
e staged a Building Insights LIVE round table in April which explored solutions to the huge challenge of delivering a ‘just’ – e.g. aff ordable as well as eff ective – transition for tenants to
better-performing homes with lower bills, long-term. Our event, which heard contributions from a wide range of stakeholders in retrofi tting social housing found that the challenges were chiefl y not around the ability to identify and provide smart approaches, but in how to engage housing tenants eff ectively and sensitively in order to work in partnership on projects, and tackle aff ordability problems for smaller providers. T e round table, held in London, was sponsored by Showersave, Dimplex,
Intergas and Chameleon Technology, who all brought representatives to the event to discuss innovative and data-driven solutions for social housing clients; and submitted pertinent questions to the panel. T e discussion was steered by guest chair, Elaine Middleton, strategic consultant and board member at housing association Livin Housing. She was able to off er a vital perspective from smaller registered providers, as well as asking a series of pertinent questions to the panel. For a debate which really looked at the realities from all perspectives, we were fortunate to have a broad-based group, including key players Clarion, L&G and Mears, as well as representation from the Government’s advisory body the Climate Change Committee (Just Transition Lead Joshua Deru). At the larger end of the provider spectrum, we were glad to be joined by
Becky Ritchie, head of sustainability at Clarion Housing Group, which manages 125,000 homes across the UK. She revealed that a survey undertaken by the Group showed that 43% of their residents (based on the total, a substantial number of households) were struggling to pay energy bills. Legal & General Aff ordable Homes’ head of stock acquisitions, Faisal Butt was also on hand to provide the 10,000 homes RSP’s position on retrofi t strategy, and harnessing data to optimise effi ciency.
Other experts present including Piers Williamson, chair of Sustainability for
Housing, which has developed a Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing. Rebecca Rieley, head of communities at HACT was also on hand from the non-profi t body which has just introduced a retrofi t credit scheme for social
ROUND TABLE ATTENDEES • Chair: Elaine Middleton, Strategic Consultant/Livin Housing • Joshua Deru, Just Transition Lead, Climate Change Committee • Becky Ritchie, Head of Sustainability, Clarion Housing Group • Faisal Butt, Head of Stock Acquisitions, Legal & General Aff ordable Homes
• Rebecca Rieley, Head of Communities & Projects, HACT • Greg Robinson, Managing Director – DLO (Direct Labour Organisation), Mears
• Rachel Taylor, Senior Lecturer, University of South Wales
• John Kolm-Murray, Principal Consultant, Turner & Townsend • Dr Marco Picco, Lecturer in Building Services and Sustainable Engineering University of Lancashire
• Piers Williamson, Chair, Sustainability for Housing
SPONSOR ATTENDEES • Tony Gordon, Managing Director, Showersave • David Patrick, Head of Specifi cation Marketing, Glen Dimplex •
Stewart Thompson, National Specifi cation Manager (Social Housing & New Build), Intergas
• Kyle Brown, Chief Commercial Offi cer, Chameleon Technology
Housing Management & Maintenance Summer 2026
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