Decarbonising the UK housing market: working together to reach net zero
Net zero is a complex systems challenge. When looking at decarbonisation, government and industry must first understand what is currently in place, how it presently operates, and the ways in which everything is interconnected. This includes everything from heat, power, and transport to the infrastructure that connects them.
When we look specifically at housing and its role in the net zero transition, there are two clear challenges. The first is to ensure that all newly built homes are low to zero carbon in construction and operation; and the second is to upgrade existing housing stock to be energy efficient.
Domestic retrofit, the process of making improvements to a home so that it operates with lower emissions, presents a big opportunity for the UK both in terms of economic and social value. There are approximately 29 million buildings in the UK that will still be in operation in 2050 and will need a form of retrofit to make them compliant with net zero targets.
As one of the UK’s leading and most trusted providers of specialist housing services, we have a unique perspective on the challenges the sector faces as it looks to meet these goals, and we know that we need to act now. We have launched our first ever decarbonisation report, which presents the scale of the opportunity and challenge facing the UK housing sector as it works to reach net zero.
Building on our extensive experience of retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient, our report, Warmer, healthier homes – domestic retrofit a net zero opportunity, recognises that while there has been some progress, the industry is behind where it needs to be in its decarbonisation journey.
The scale of the opportunities and challenges
We know that progress has been made, including the UK Government initiative - the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) - which has proven to be a major catalyst for change. The emergence of new forums including the National Home Decarbonisation Group, which Mears is a founding member of, show a willingness for cross-platform collaboration.
At this stage, retrofit is a volume challenge, and industry is behind the curve, so we need to focus on developing the sector into one that can perform at pace and on a massive scale. But no company can do this on its own, and we must focus on the actual number of homes which need to be decarbonised, not just those of each individual housing provider.
This theme of collaboration is a key one throughout our report, both across the sector and with government. We know that with the vast number of properties which need to be retrofitted, long-term policy support is required, along with clear regulations and standards. That is why one of our key recommendations is that retrofit is developed through long term planning and thinking.
Government funding needs to act as an anchor for activity, but private sector finance is also needed to deliver on the quantity of work involved. This reinforces the request from the private sector for a consistent policy framework to work within and plan against. The level and value of investments mean they will have to be long-term in nature with defined payback terms.
Putting residents at the heart of retrofit
For companies completing retrofitting work, our experience has shown that a data led approach works best, both for ensuring that your work will have the biggest impact on homes’ energy efficiency, but also for residents. A focus on this is vital. Yes, we need to ensure our housing stock is carbon neutral, but we also need to make the homes we work in good places to live, and ensure we are working with residents every step of the way.
Retrofit must be viewed as being more than just technical. Our approach to decarbonising housing is to ensure we are making a positive impact for people, property, place, and planet. We are acutely aware that every property we work on is someone’s home, and therefore we believe in the importance of ongoing, two-way communication with our customers. Any work we carry out must bring tangible benefits to the homes and people living in them.
This idea of how we communicate around retrofitting is one which we have outlined as an important factor in progress, we need to use clear communication and language to ensure that the public and residents understand what we are doing, and why we are doing it.
An opportunity for new jobs and skills
The sector’s drive to net zero brings with it an opportunity to grow and develop our workforce, and estimates suggest that the retrofit sector will require almost 500,000 trained professionals to deliver housing targets. However, the sector’s workforce is generally an ageing demographic and experience will be lost over the period needed to deliver the volume of retrofit required.
With an aging workforce and ongoing skills shortage, it is 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. We recommend that we all work together on this, sharing positive stories and highlighting that 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.
Retrofit is multi-faceted, and the roles needed will require specialist skills and will stretch across several areas including heating, insultation and wider building design and maintenance. We need a clear skills roadmap for the sector to support the retrofit challenge. To do this, we must come together and share knowledge, experience, and technology.
Conclusion
At the heart of our mission lies a deep commitment to social equity and environmental stewardship. Retrofit is about improving lives. At the end of the day, it is about healthier, warmer, better ventilated, cheaper to run homes – that do not damage the environment.
We understand that the transition to a low-carbon future must be inclusive for it to have an impact. This report looks at the key themes in the net zero opportunity, with our approach prioritising affordability and accessibility, and is designed to empower residents to live in healthier, more sustainable homes.
We recognise that to do this we need to work together. By forging partnerships with government agencies, industry leaders, and community organisations, we can amplify our impact and drive systemic change at pace and scale.
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. As we embark on this journey towards decarbonisation, Mears is committed to playing our part and we’re calling for others to do the same.
Recommendations from: Warmer, healthier homes - domestic retrofit a net zero opportunity:
- 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 – investing in and ensuring data accuracy is critical, as it can have an impact on both quality and costs
- Retrofit is viewed as a volume challenge – recognise that the industry is 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, the ultimate positive impact is on the residents who live in the homes
- Standards drive behaviour – they have the potential to have a bigger impact than any financial subsidy, because they can drive consistency across the industry
- 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
- Use clear communication and language – increase the public’s understanding of the retrofit process, removing technical language where possible
- Engage tenants by focusing on their needs – retrofit should not be about what organisations want residents to do and should be tailored to fulfil tenants’ needs
- Create new funding models – 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 sector
- Housing providers take a holistic view – use retrofit as a mechanism to deliver true integrated asset management beyond housing issues.
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