Retrofit belongs at the heart of Andy Burnham’s social housing revolution, writes Professor David Glew, but it’s time to start proving that it delivers through real-world results
The dawn of another new political era means that priorities across all sectors are being reassessed. Andy Burnham has already spoken of a “social housing revolution”, but if that ambition is to succeed, it must start with the homes we already have, not just the ones we plan to build.
Retrofit has a huge role in making sure that homes already being lived in are fit for purpose. Done well, it not only supports net zero targets, but can tackle fuel poverty, improve housing quality and support health outcomes and wellbeing.
However, if retrofit is going to continue to play a major part in the upcoming social housing revolution, the sector needs to confront a critical question: how do we know it is actually working?
For too long, conversations about retrofit have focused on modelled predictions, rather than what projects ultimately deliver, or how it affects the lives of people living in the homes.
Show don’t tell
It’s one thing to say that a retrofit project will deliver lower energy bills, improved efficiency and reduced carbon emissions, but if residents’ experiences don’t match what they have been promised, that seriously damages the credibility of the industry.
At the Leeds Sustainability Institute (LSI), our research is directly addressing this gap by providing evidence of what actually works when it comes to designing, constructing and retrofitting buildings that are sustainable and healthy.
Along with the University of Salford and the University of Loughborough, we delivered the Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Potential (DEEP) project on behalf of the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, one of the largest retrofit performance studies in the UK.
It addressed a series of critical questions, including whether existing models for predicting performance were accurate and how robust the techniques are for assessing energy performance. Working in 14 socially-rented homes in England, our team undertook before-and-after modelling and in-situ performance testing of 41 different fabric retrofits, including new loft, floor, and wall insulation and fitting new energy efficiency windows and external doors.
The DEEP project has helped government understand how the EPC models used to make energy saving predictions, and how the simulations used to undertake condensation and mould risk assessments can be improved, so that retrofits can be delivered more safely and effectively.
One key finding was that models used to produce EPCs can underestimate the current levels of energy efficiency at a property, resulting in smaller energy savings than predicted from the retrofits. This leaves a gap between expected results and what customers actually receive, which could be hugely disappointing for residents, undermine payback finance models and damage the credibility of retrofit.
Another finding showed that effectively insulating solid walls – the least energy-efficient wall type – can reduce energy bills by up to 30%, is the measure most likely to increase EPCs to band C and to reduce risks of condensation.
Given that there are over eight million solid-walled homes in the UK, this information is essential to inform government decisions around meeting its targets for homes to achieve EPC band C by 2035, and to bring one million additional households out of fuel poverty by 2030, as well as to achieving compliance with Awaab’s law.
This kind of scientific approach is particularly key for a subject like retrofits because there can be the danger that we assume anything that is ‘good for the environment’ is beyond scrutiny. But good intentions don’t always create good outcomes, so it’s our responsibility to keep studying and optimising to get those outcomes right.
Resident inclusion
Another key consideration with retrofits is that residents need to be at the forefront of any changes that are being made to the buildings where they live. Research we have done has helped to support efforts to ensure that the experiences of often vulnerable communities across Yorkshire are central to the region’s push for healthy and decarbonised homes.
We’ve worked collaboratively with Leeds City Council and City of York Council on projects generating insights into how social housing tenants and sheltered housing residents have experienced having heat pumps installed.
This research has helped identify key sources of disruption, anxiety, and dissatisfaction, alongside installation failures and performance gaps. It also highlighted communication challenges, instances of unmet expectations, and difficulties from residents in adapting to unfamiliar technologies. The findings reinforce an important truth: no retrofit project can be considered a success if the people living in the home do not experience and recognise its benefits.
For York and Leeds City Councils, this work has already informed changes to system design and handover processes, including removing heat pump units from bedrooms and improving resident guidance to support access to more suitable energy tariffs.
These changes have helped improve comfort, create warmer living conditions, and empower residents to get the most from their new heating systems.
Just as Awaab’s Law has put residents at the heart of how landlords tackle repairs and damp and mould, retrofit programmes must adopt the same people-first approach.
Shifting the focus away from what retrofit is predicted to achieve, to what it really does deliver for residents, is how the sector can ensure that money spent on retrofit is achieving good value through healthier homes, lower bills and meaningful decarbonisation.
The industry has made progress, but the performance gap remains a major issue. Addressing it requires measuring not only how buildings perform technically, but also how well they work for the people who occupy them.
This of course comes with challenges for social housing providers, but engaging with research can help identify effective and cost-effective solutions to collect meaningful data from homes to help shape and validate the outcomes of the retrofits we need.
Touching a NeRV
This is why facilities such as the Net Zero Research Village (NeRV) are so important. A research site near Gateshead run by Northern Gas Networks, it is currently the UK’s largest facility for researching the performance of and innovations for homes across building fabric, gas, electricity and water.
NeRV features nine test homes built to represent five different construction eras, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Each home contains sensors to capture all of the data required to measure the performance of any technologies being tested under realistic conditions.
Our current research at NeRV focuses on consumer protection around heat pumps, and it has already revealed challenges associated with sizing heat pumps effectively, and identified logistical and practical barriers to installing heat pumps quickly and effectively, which if not resolved, could lead to poor outcomes for customers.
Projects like these are helping us to optimise the way retrofits and renewables technologies like heat pumps are being rolled out across the UK and ensure they are delivering beneficial outcomes including lower energy bills, improved air quality and helping people stay warm in winters and cool in heatwaves like those we have experienced this summer.
If the government is serious about transforming social housing, it must not only support retrofit programmes, but also the measurement of their real-world impact.
Rather than being defined by how many homes are upgraded, the next phase of the retrofit revolution needs to judge itself against whether residents are genuinely warmer, healthier and better off as a result.
Main image: Professor David Glew is director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute, Leeds Beckett University
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