Social housing decarbonisation

In 2020, our dedicated social housing maintenance business launched its social housing retrofit service, an end-to-end, fully PAS 2035 compliant, whole-house retrofit service to enable social housing landlords to meet the Government’s target for all social housing to achieve an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of C and above by 2030.

Now badged as ‘Wates Retrofit’, the offer is designed to guide customers through every step of their retrofit journey, from initial planning, through to final install and monitoring. Our ethos is to work collaboratively, supporting customers with applications for funding, helping them to understand and adhere to compliance, selecting the most suitable energy efficiency measures and supporting residents through essential works.

Zero carbon retrofit is a process undertaken to improve the energy efficiency of homes and bring them up to Government energy performance requirements. A property will be assessed to establish its current Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating, and to understand what measures might be required to ensure compliance. These measures could include the installation of double or triple glazed windows; internal or external wall insulation, photovoltaic panels or air source heat pumps.

Social housing providers across the country are required by law to bring all properties in their portfolio up to EPC level C by the year 2030. It is widely thought that this could cost the sector up to £104bn.

Industry experts estimate that the cost to retrofit the average social housing property in the UK to EPC band C is £20,742

The Government has made a number of routes available to housing providers to access finds. The Wates Retrofit team are experts in supporting customers to access funding routes from The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, as well as The Energy Company Obligation, Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme and The Sustainable Warmth Competition.

Where retrofitting has been completed effectively, the EPC banding of properties has improved to at least EPC C and sometimes to EPC B, well within the Government’s targets.

Energy efficient homes require less energy to heat and to run, meaning that householders can reduce their energy use. At our pilot project with Brent Council, the average reduction in fuel bills per household was £425 a year after retrofits were completed.

Currently we’re applying Wates Retrofit to where we have an existing zero carbon offer, however, there are plans to roll this out more widely across the Group. This might include future retrofitting work in schools, hospitals and commercial properties, where there are also carbon reduction obligations to meet. More information about this will be announced in due course.