SHDF Wave 2.1: Lessons learnt to support ambitious retrofit bids
The government’s £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) is a transformational programme aimed at kickstarting large scale domestic retrofit across England.
So far, £179m has been distributed to 69 projects to deliver often life-changing upgrades for tenants – creating warm, energy efficient homes up and down the country.
With a second wave of funding worth up to £800m on the horizon, it’s crucial that bidders heed the lessons learnt from wave one and apply them to even more ambitious bids for Wave 2.1 funding.
The Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator (SHRA) is a Government-backed, fully-funded service helping social housing providers develop high-quality SHDF bids.
Over 96% of the total Wave 1 funding allocation was secured by SHRA supported bids. Through this intensive close support, the expert SHRA team at Turner & Townsend learnt many useful lessons that will help organisations be bold and ambitious when it comes to shaping their Wave 2.1 bids.
It’s never too early to start preparing your bid
Regardless of how experienced or not your organisation is at delivering retrofit projects, we always recommend getting started as soon as possible. It gives you and your organisation the time you need to gain senior buy-in, understand your stock and plan for delivery. Often unexpected challenges pop up along the way and so it’s important to the have the space and time to overcome them.
The competition launch for Wave 2.1 is set for September – with less than a month left to go, bidders should have identified the resources needed to put together a successful bid, and should look to prepare as much as possible in advance of the launch of the competition window.
If you haven’t already for this wave, please complete the SHRA’s simple self-assessment to find out how prepared you are and identify the gaps.
Engage with the Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator’s support
Bids that received support from the SHRA had a much higher success rate – SHRA-supported bids made up £173m of allotted funds from a total SHDF pot of £176m. That’s nearly 97%!
Whether it’s through intensive one-to-one support, on-demand masterclasses, webinars, podcasts or the comprehensive Knowledge Hub, there is something to match most organisation’s needs and individual learning styles.
You can also watch the short SHRA / SHDF briefing on-demand to find out more about the support available.
Engage the supply chain
A perfect storm of inflation, labour shortages and increasing prices is contributing to a more unpredictable supply chain.
Engaging with the supply chain early is critical to ensure your proposed project is deliverable within the specified time frame. Without a collaborative approach to pricing, contractors are unable to take the risks associated with inflationary cost increases.
The SHRA has a wealth of information of procurement strategies and an engaging on-demand masterclass on creating successful supply chains.
Join a consortium that’s right for you
Wave 2.1 of the SHDF requires a minimum bid size of 100 homes so finding geographical or organisationally (size, stock etc.) similar providers to strengthen your bid is crucial if you don’t think you’ll be able to hit that minimum threshold.
Joining a consortium brings a raft of other shared benefits and may unlock an even more ambitious bid that would have otherwise been possible. Consortium members receive equal access to support from the SHRA and the team can help you matchmake.
The SHRA has lots of useful information on consortium forming in the Knowledge Hub and you can learn from West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s consortium bid experience in their latest blog.
Be ambitious
The £800m SHDF opportunity will be transformational for many organisations’ decarbonisation plans and will kickstart life-changing retrofit projects across the country.
The Government is encouraging bidders to be bold and ambitious with their bids and to take full advantage of the funding available now.
The expert SHRA team is here to support your ambition and guide your organisation through the process, drawing upon the experience gained through wave one of the SHDF.
We’re just an email away, so please do get in touch if you want to find out more.
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