Retrofitting England's social homes and tackling fuel poverty
As a key partner to the UK government in the retrofit sector since 2013, this project extends our support to the housing sector through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) Technical Assistance Facility (TAF), marketed as the Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator (SHRA) and Home Upgrade Hub. These are the main advisory programmes driving decarbonisation across the housing sector, and supporting providers to install energy efficient upgrades and clean heat measures to homes across England.
Key information
- Location:
- England, United Kingdom
- Date started:
- 2022
- Completion date:
- Ongoing
- Client type:
- real estate
- Main services:
- advisory, programme management, project management, programme strategy and setup
Securing a sustainable future
Announced in 2020, the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) was designed to improve the energy performance of social rented homes, on the pathway to net zero, as well as reducing fuel poverty across England.
To ensure an adequate number of registered providers can access the funding, DESNZ financed TAF - a free specialist support service to improve the knowledge and capability of eligible registered housing providers across England. TAF stands as a testament to collaborative innovation within the social housing sector - acting as a bridge between providers and SHDF, building collective capabilities and establishing a strong pipeline of quality bids into government schemes, unlocking investment across the sector to deliver energy efficiency upgrades, generating tangible benefits for both residents and the environment.
During the project, TAF widened in scope to support applications into the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG), another major retrofit programme funded by DESNZ, which supports local authorities to provide vital energy efficiency upgrades to low-income, off-gas grid homes in England.
Unlocking investment and expertise
Throughout the programme, TAF has supported over 90 percent of local authorities across England and more than 440 social housing providers, that collectively have been awarded over £1.5bn in grant funding across retrofit projects. This investment has empowered individuals and organisations involved in delivering retrofit programmes from across the housing sector with the knowledge and capacity to navigate the SHDF and HUG application process effectively. This is due to TAF’s comprehensive support services which involve programme management, communications, policy and technical expertise. TAF has also become a valuable resource provider, fostering industry-wide knowledge-sharing.
Transforming lives and the environment
The TAF programme has directly supported successful applications into Government schemes which represent an investment of over one billion pounds into the domestic retrofit sector across England, driving greater energy efficiency in social housing and fuel-poor owner-occupied properties (including across the private rental sector). This investment directly contributes to carbon emissions reduction, the creation of warm homes, and the alleviation of fuel poverty.
Our role in the programme not only includes developing the retrofit sector but also supports the creation of green jobs and local economic growth. Some 6,800 individuals involved in developing and delivering retrofit programmes - including landlords, local authority staff and supply chain employees - have been upskilled through the programme.
In 2024, as part of a new £26.6m, five-year contract, we were reappointed by the DESNZ to continue the delivery of TAF and further improve the support for the housing and retrofit sector. This support is offered under a new branded service, Retrofit Information, Support and Expertise (RISE).