The scale of the challenges and opportunities the housing sector faces in achieving net zero has been laid out in a decarbonisation report by the Mears Group.
The report – Warmer, Healthier Homes: Domestic retrofit, a net zero opportunity – is the company’s first such report; it recognises that while there has been some progress, the industry is behind where it needs to be in its net zero journey.
It highlights some of the progress made, including the UK government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which has proven to be a major catalyst for change.
The report also celebrates the emergence of new forums including the National Home Decarbonisation Group, of which Mears is a founding member. These, it says, show willingness across the industry to work together.
Lucas Critchley, Mears Group’s chief executive, said: “We know that we cannot reach net zero without decarbonising the UK’s housing stock, and as a sector we all need to work together to meet this goal.
“Our position as one of the UK’s leading and most trusted providers of specialist housing services means we have a unique perspective on the challenges the sector is facing. We also know that there is a massive opportunity for industry to make a real difference, but we must act now to embrace it.”
The report discusses the scale of opportunity which retrofitting brings in terms of jobs. With estimates that the retrofit sector will require almost 500,000 trained professionals to deliver housing targets, there is scope for people to develop careers in this sector.
But, it goes on, with an ageing workforce and ongoing skills shortages, it is considered vital that the benefits of joining the sector are clearly communicated, and that the industry develops clear succession plans to manage the transition across the workforce.
It also highlights the importance of collaboration across the sector and with government. It recognises that with the number of properties that need to be retrofitted, estimated to be up to 29m homes, long-term policy support is required, along with clear regulations and standards.
To meet these massive targets, for both retrofitting and new housing, the report argues that the sector must come together and share knowledge, experience, and technology.
Critchley added: “We are pleased to launch this report, which builds on our own experience and wider sector trends to look at what industry needs to do to ensure that the transition is inclusive, and that the benefits are felt by everyone.
“By working collaboratively, we can build a future where everyone has access to safe, affordable housing that goes some way to achieving our net zero ambitions as a country.”
Recommended approach
In total, the report makes twelve recommendations aimed at making the sector more likely to meet the goal of ensuring the UK has healthier, warmer, better ventilated homes, and which support the country’s net zero goals. They are:
- Retrofit is delivered through long-term planning and thinking: given the volume of homes that need to be retrofitted in both the social and affordable homes sector and beyond, it can only be achieved with the support of long-term policy support
- Base decisions on retrofit on evidence: invest in and ensure you get your data right. Without this, retrofit activity could cost more and the benefits it can provide not fully recognised
- Retrofit is viewed as a volume challenge: recognise that we are currently behind the curve and focus efforts on making retrofit a sector that works at pace and at scale.
- Retrofit is viewed as being more than just technical: whilst the application of the measures to the property are physical and technical in their nature, do not lose sight of the positive impact that retrofit has on the resident
- Standards drive behaviour: they have the potential to have a bigger impact than any financial subsidy, because they can drive consistency across everyone’s work
- Break any perception that retrofit is a competition: place a clear focus on collaboration and view the actual target as the total number of homes the sector needs to decarbonise, not just those of an individual housing provider
- Concentrate on using clear communication and language: et’s demystify the retrofit process, removing where possible technical language to increase understanding of what retrofit is trying to achieve
- Engage tenants by focusing on their needs: retrofit should not be about what organisations want residents to do, rather we should focus on encouraging the motivations of residents to undertake the process
- New funding models are created: based on a long-term calculation of the value of the retrofit investment
- Make retrofit and the social housing sector appealing: to highlight how retrofit is a growing industry and one that has a strong future, emphasising why it should be seen as a viable career choice for the future
- Place an emphasis on the social value of retrofit: both to attract residents to participate in the programme, but also to act as a mechanism to attract new talent into the industry and the sector
- Housing providers take a holistic view: don’t isolate housing issues. Use retrofit as a mechanism to deliver true integrated asset management
Image credit: RoadLight/Pixabay
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