Back to basics retrofitting is what’s needed

Bold promises, time for some follow through

Labour’s General Election manifesto made some bold promises when it came to retrofitting homes which, now they are in power, could lead to the first significant step towards improving energy efficiency in homes for quite some time.

Its Warm Homes Plan promises to invest an extra £6.6bn over the next Parliament to upgrade five million homes.

While still a little light on specifics, the Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low-interest loans for energy-saving improvements such as insulation, solar panels, and low-carbon heating systems.

The new Government says it will work with local authorities to roll out the plans, as well as speak with banks and building societies about providing additional private financing.

For the private rented sector, it aims to ensure it meets minimum energy efficiency standards by 2030, while reassuring “nobody will be forced to rip out their boiler as a result of our plans.”

This doesn’t however rule out the possibility that when existing boilers fail, replacing them with more efficient models might become compulsory.

It is hoped more details will be announced in the coming months. While the King’s Speech outlined broader plans for a greener economy, specifics on the Warm Homes Plan were absent, which means we might see more details at Labour’s upcoming annual conference at the end of September or in the Autumn Budget.

New Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said she will wait for forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which will take 10 weeks to prepare, before revealing any economic plans.

Given Labour has already scaled back its original green target from 19 million homes, one would hope there will be no further cutbacks.

Making it straightforward

For the Warm Homes Plan to succeed, it must be easily understood and accessible to homeowners. The plan’s name is already a step in the right direction, explaining what it does on the box, so to speak — everyone wants a warm home.

It also needs to take a fabric-first approach, focusing on simple measures such as insulation, proper sealing, double glazing, and cavity wall insulation.

These concepts are more relatable to the average homeowner than more complex technologies like solar panels or heat pumps.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) recently polled 200 of its members about their views on retrofitting. Interestingly, they avoided the term ‘retrofit’ in the survey believing it to be a poorly understood term, instead referring to the ‘energy consumption and carbon reductions’ that can be made to homes.

They found consumer demand for retrofitting work in existing homes is low.

Those questioned said most consumers show little interest in energy efficiency or low/zero carbon technologies. However, interest is stronger when it comes to new-build projects.

Reducing the performance gap

Builders felt confident about meeting any increased market demand for retrofitting. Yet while the firms surveyed were optimistic about their ability to respond by upskilling their existing workforce and potentially hiring more employees, the FMB points out that ‘confidence isn’t the same as competence.’

The FMB stresses that past research shows a considerable performance gap between the energy efficiency a design claims to achieve and what it actually does.

It would like to see a routine evaluation of energy performance after a project’s completion, with feedback to both the contractor and the occupier.

This it says would help make actual energy performance better understood and increase industry learning on reducing that performance gap.

While the Warm Homes Plan has the potential to make a significant impact, as highlighted by the FMB’s research, going down the retrofitting road also brings potential challenges related to the quality of work and the need for assessments before and after upgrades to ensure they are effective.

This again comes back to the simpler, the better, which reduces the risk of errors. Although we may never fully excite the public about retrofitting, focusing on simpler measures like insulation, offers achievable and cost-effective ways for households to save.

This approach is likely the most effective way for Labour to reach any meaningful targets.

Simon Jackson is Managing Director of SDL Surveying

First Published with The Intermediary