What was the Innovative Housing Retrofit Scheme?

The ‘Innovative Housing Retrofit Scheme - Hard to Treat’ tested innovative energy-saving improvements and approaches to retrofit delivery, including householder engagement and addressing technical challenges. There were three pilot projects delivered by social landlords.

The scheme explored solutions for challenging, hard to treat properties, such as those built before the 1900s, with solid walls or off the gas grid. Valuable learning was gathered by delivery partners, helping them prepare funding bids for larger scale projects as they went on to retrofit their wider estates.

The regional retrofit supply chain and green skills were also supported through the scheme. This helped to maximise new economic opportunities for local residents and businesses.

The scheme contributed to the West of England Combined Authority’s Climate and Ecological Strategy and Action Plan (opens in new tab). This set an ambition for the region to be net zero carbon by 2030, as well as supporting biodiversity and climate resilience. The Buildings & Places Theme aimed to significantly increase retrofit across the region to reduce emissions from homes and other buildings.

The project was funded through the Green Recovery Fund (opens in new tab), a nearly £40m pot set up by the Metro Mayor to address the climate and nature emergencies.

What did the scheme deliver?

House construction
Brighter Places

This project tested, modelled and compared different strategies for whole house retrofit in nine houses and flats across four pre-1900 housing archetypes in Bristol. Brighter Places, a Housing Association providing homes in Bristol and the surrounding areas, delivered measures including solar photovoltaic panels, air source heat pumps, innovative heating systems and monitoring provision.

Street with solar roofing
Bristol City Council

Whole house retrofitting was carried out on 25 concrete Easiform archetype homes in the Brentry area of Bristol. The project tested a building fabric-first approach to inform the best method of switching these homes away from fossil fuels to more low carbon and sustainable heating systems. Innovative measures installed included solar photovoltaic panels and LED lighting systems, with the potential for heat pump technologies to deliver both space heating and hot water production.

People chatting in front of a door
Curo

Retrofitting was also completed on 22 off-gas grid rural bungalows and houses with a suite of energy efficiency measures, including external wall insulation, electric vehicle charging points, windows, ventilation, and heating upgrades. Delivered by Curo, a Bath-based Housing Association, the innovative measures installed included modern storage heaters, solar photovoltaic panels with battery storage, and monitoring systems.

The retrofit market represents a key sector for the West of England Combined Authority. It will play an important role in achieved the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030…[but] doing so will require a radical overhaul across the region.

Combined Authority Green Jobs and Skills Retrofit Report

Hard to Treat Retrofit - Lessons Learned in the West of England

In this webinar, we delve into the challenges and successes of retrofitting hard-to-treat homes across the West of England. Hosted by experts Marion Britton, Dr. Ben Nweke, Carlos De Lima, and representatives from Brighter Places and South Gloucestershire Council, the session explores various retrofit projects aimed at improving energy efficiency in diverse housing types, from pre-1900 homes to off-gas grid properties.

Watch on YouTube