Expert panel to review substandard retrofits installed under government schemes

Examples of substandard installation ranged from missing or incomplete paperwork, insufficient ventilation, or missing or exposed insulation, which if left unchecked could lead to damp and mould.

At the time, officials said the findings were a “serious issue”, but they were not considered a widespread threat to safety.

DESNZ said these issues were widespread and demonstrated that current installation standards and consumer protections were not adequate enough to deliver quality.

Official statistics showed that to the end of November 2024, more than 65,000 external wall insulation and internal wall insulation measures were fitted in around 65,000 households under the two schemes.

The new panel will focus on long-term reforms to the retrofit system and consumer protection landscape. It will work with ministers to deliver a simplified system of high-quality standards and protections for building retrofit, to ensure they are straightforward for consumers and the industry to understand.

Plus, it will develop a system of redress for consumers with substandard home upgrades through auditing and a compliance process.

Last year, Inside Housing reported that residents of Burnley, Lancashire signed up for a government-backed scheme that funded cavity wall insulation, but later experienced damp and mould in their homes after it was badly installed.

Some residents also faced tens of thousands of pounds in legal fees after a series of claims around the insulation collapsed.

The panel will cover standards and consumer protections around measures to decarbonise buildings and improve their energy efficiency. This will create a nationwide system, as much of the retrofit policy is devolved and retrofit oversight bodies operate across the UK.

These include: retrofit standards; accreditation of installers; compliance with standards, oversight and enforcement; system for quality assurance and audits; consumer protection including redress, remediation and guarantees; and skills and capability of installers.

Nearer-term challenges will not be in the scope of the panel. These include remediation for properties affected by substandard works; measures for currently suspended installers; design of minimum energy efficiency standards, government capital support schemes and any future supplier obligation.

The panel’s first meeting is set to take place this summer, which will identify the priority areas of discussion for a broader work programme.

It will convene every six weeks, make recommendations to ministers and have to work within existing government funding envelopes and policy, including meeting statutory net zero and fuel poverty targets.

The eight panel members are:

• Adam Scorer, chief executive of National Energy Action
• Gillian Cooper, director of energy at Citizens Advice
• Anthony Pygram, a member of the Committee on Fuel Poverty
• Marion Baeli, principal – sustainability transformation at 10 Design
• Dr Hywel Davies, head of technical insight at the Chartered Association of Building Engineers
• Lynne Sullivan, board chair at the National Retrofit Hub
• Charlotte Lee, chief executive of the Heat Pump Association
• Brian Berry, chief executive at the Federation of Master Builders