Accelerating retrofit

Six things that would make a home retrofit easier and more affordable for every homeowner, accelerating retrofit in this country.

In the keynote to this years’ Retrofit live, Baroness Barbara Young gave us reasons to be cheerful about the near future of retrofit: She pointed to renewed commitment from our Labour Government to addressing the climate crisis, to clear communication about it, to innovations in the field, to long term building strategies making the best possible use of the existing buildings.

Retrofit is the future for much of the country’s housing stock. The greenest building is the one that already exists – but maintenance, upkeep and modernisation are key to these buildings also being a pleasure to live in. There are 14.3 million homes in need of retrofitting in this country, roughly 50% of the total housing stock. 60% of these are in private ownership. With these kinds of figures, it is easy to believe that the UK’s housing stock is in the worst condition of any in Europe.

In September, Siri Zanelli and Joe Scragg were invited to AJ Retrofit Live to present the deep retrofit of Mid Terrace Dream. The retrofit of a Victorian terrace in North London was shortlisted in the AJ Retrofit awards home renovation category and was to be judged in front of a live audience.

The retrofit project took a very ordinary mid terrace – leaky, drafty, run down – and has turned it into a high performing home. It has been designed to be warm, comfortable, have clean filtered air – asthma that runs in the family so this was high on the agenda – and to be low energy. One year on, our client said “the most enjoyable thing is that you feel it – it is comfortable, quiet and we know that the air we breathe is clean.” They even report a £69 annual rebate on their energy bills, versus the c £2000 that is typical of the home before renovation.

Are your interested in transforming your home with a home retrofit, but want to know more? Talk to us to discuss your ideas. 

While the house that our clients had bought was very ‘normal’, the renovation we have completed was very much out of the ordinary. We asked ourselves why this is the case, and what would help to ‘normalise’ retrofit for domestic renovations.

Here are our six conclusions.

1. Make it easier to understand

Navigating information around green grants, green mortgages, green building standards, etc is complicated, technical and often conflicting.

While many people don’t yet know the difference between a retrofit and a renovation, even those with a sound understanding of, and commitment to retrofitting a property can easily get lost in the language and processes. Standardising the terminology used, and making the processes more transparent would make retrofitting your home a lot more accessible.

2. Reduce VAT on refurbishment, repair and maintenance, in line with new build

New build homes are zero VAT rated, whereas upgrading an existing home is subject to standard 20% VAT. Cost is often cited as the main barrier to sustainable design, natural materials and the inclusion of green technologies in construction projects.  Long part of campaigns focussed on promoting retrofit, bringing VAT on all building projects in line with new build would reduce the cost of retrofitting homes by up to 20%.

3. Part Z : Regulate embodied carbon

Embodied Carbon is the carbon emissions from all the raw materials throughout their whole life – from extraction, manufacturing and transportation to their ultimate disposal at the end of their life. In a retrofit, because you are reusing much of the original building, the additional embodied carbon is smaller. Regulating embodied carbon will not only encourage retrofit, but also reduce the use of high carbon materials in new builds.

4. Bridging the green skills gap in construction

There is a severe lack of builders who are skilled in deep retrofit. According to Construction Industry Training Board estimates, improving the fabric energy efficiency of every building in the country in need of retrofit will require 12,000 workers to be trained every year to 2025, and over 30,000 additional heat pump installers will be needed by 2028

This requires an upskilling on a national level. The more people who have skills and awareness of retrofit, the more likely retrofit elements will be included in every renovation project.

5. Better availability of grants for retrofit products and green technologies

Government grants for retrofit products and green technologies need to be much more comprehensive and easily accessible. The limitations of what they cover and who can apply for them should be easily found. Current grants can be found here Eco4hub.gov.

6. Greater adoption of green technology and low carbon materials will contribute to lowering their cost.

Finally, greater adoption of green technology and low carbon materials will contribute to costs coming down, creating a virtuous circle in making them more easily accessible. Until then, however, we must rely on early adopters and government grants and subsidies to accelerate the market.

Are you looking to renovate your home, to make it more comfortable and more efficient? We can help you on your journey.