Kickstarting London’s first deep whole-house retrofit programme in Sutton

The project is part of the Mayor of London’s Retrofit Accelerator and aims to revolutionise the way London retrofits its ageing and energy-inefficient housing to create warm, affordable and ultra-low carbon homes using a whole-house approach.

An initial pilot of eight homes delivered by Engie will be completed over the coming months using the Dutch Energiesprong whole-house model, on behalf of Sutton Housing Partnership.

The whole-house approach upgrades homes with everything they need to be future-proofed. Measures including high-spec insulation, renewable heating systems and solar panels are fitted at the same time within a 15-day programme to radically reduce a home’s energy use and carbon footprint.

We lead the Retrofit Accelerator team, which is supported by Energiesprong UK and the Carbon Trust to provide London boroughs and housing associations with the technical expertise they need to kick-start whole-house retrofit projects across the capital.

Richard McWilliams, Director, Sustainability, said: “Against the backdrop of the climate emergency, this is an important pilot to demonstrate that whole-house retrofit can deliver ultra-low carbon homes for London which provide comfort and warmth for residents.

This is the first step in a London-wide push to create a market for industrialised retrofit that delivers guaranteed performance as well as improved environmental and social outcomes.

Steve Tucker, Managing Director of Sutton Housing Partnership, said: “It’s fantastic that our residents will benefit from lower energy bills, warmer homes and a more sustainable future, as a result of this funding. We’re very proud to be working towards a carbon-neutral borough and supporting Sutton Council in its ambitious plans to tackle the climate emergency.”

Councillor Jayne McCoy, Deputy Leader and Chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee, Sutton Council added: "We are delighted to be at the forefront of an ambitious response to the climate emergency. Retrofitting these homes will enable residents to live comfortably and low-carbon, while helping Sutton meet its aim of becoming carbon-neutral.

Being part of this scheme will support our Ambitious for Sutton programme to encourage sustainable living and improve the physical environment of our residents.

The Retrofit Accelerator team is helping to build the supply chain capability and business case to accelerate the retrofit revolution for homes.

A new Innovation Partnership has been specifically created by the Retrofit Accelerator to support the supply chain in scaling up for whole-house retrofit. It will bring together the Greater London Authority, housing providers and suppliers to develop innovative solutions that make an economic price point achievable for performance assured retrofit – building the capacity and capability of the industry to meet the latent demand.

Find out more about the Retrofit Accelerator programme.