Retrofit Review

Welcome to the new issue

Hi everyone 👋🏽

Today's issue coincides with the king's speech (or should that be The King's Speech 🤷🏽‍♂️). In which it was announced that Scotland will the home for the new clean power-focused Great British Energy company, planning reform "will get Britain building" and the English Devolution Deal will be introduced to give new powers to metro mayors and combined authorities.

As well as all that, we bring you a swathe of news and updates on >> new gov priorities on energy and climate - how 10 retrofit projects are holding up 10 years on - buyers seek energy efficient homes and green mortgages - EPC reform insights - Octopus on bills for wind farm neighbours - new sustainable housing training hub in Redhill - scheme to help Greater Manchester youth into retrofit - new retrofit designer course launch - Chancellor's housebuilding speech - Ed Milliband's solar aims plus climate pledges to DSNEZ - Tesla cars scan our streets for building energy performance data (brilliant but a tad creepy?)

Yes, that's quite a range there! Read on, retrofitters...

📰 News & Opinion

Ed Miliband aims for ‘rooftop solar revolution’ amid energy scheme approvals | Shropshire Star

The Energy Secretary’s ambition comes after he approved three huge solar farms. Ed Miliband has said he wants to launch a “solar rooftop revolution” as he takes steps to boost the UK’s solar energy capacity. The new Energy Secretary has relaunched the Solar Taskforce with the aim of tripling the amount of energy the panels generate in the UK. He also wants to overhaul planning rules to emphasise the importance of solar to new buildings.

Virgin Money launches Retrofit Boost mortgage with up to £15,000 cashback | Financial Reporter

Virgin Money has launched The Retrofit Boost, a new mortgage product designed to help borrowers improve their property’s energy efficiency. Working with Hive, the Retrofit Boost mortgage offers customers a cashback amount to make their home more energy efficient. Hive has a range of packages for customers that can help make their home more energy efficient and can also help check for grants, and more. Customers are also free to spend their cashback with other suppliers to make the eligible improvements.

Millions of UK homes scanned for energy leaks to help reach net zero | New Scientist

UK city-dwellers may have spotted a strangely shaped car cruising around their neighbourhood earlier this year. It looks just like a Google Street View vehicle, with a camera rig emerging from the back end to scan its environment – and like the Google cars, it, too, is scanning and photographing city streets. But these modified Teslas aren’t just taking photos. They are kitted out with state-of-the-art sensors and scanners that enable them to report back on the exact dimensions, heat loss, materials, age and state of dilapidation of every building they drive past.

Labour sets out priorities on energy and climate - but how achievable are they? | Climate News | Sky News

Keir Starmer's new government talked a lot about energy in the election campaign, and has already made a slew of announcements this week. Sky News breaks down the top commitments, and why they will be harder than they sound.

Reform of EPCs can't come quick enough... | Estate Agent Today

Feature article from SDL's Simon Jackson: Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) continue to make headlines, and unfortunately, it’s once again for the wrong reasons. A recent investigation by Which? found numerous inaccuracies in a number of EPCs its team tested. Which? selected 12 homeowners from England, Wales, and Scotland, arranging EPC assessments for them during February and March 2024, to test their accuracy and the usefulness of the recommendations.

SDL Surveying are exhibiting at The Home Upgrade Show . Make sure you visit to talk to them and our other exhibitors about home retrofit and energy efficiency in Manchester this 10-11 October - a free-to-attend in-person event, focused on helping you with the practical aspects of retrofit.

📅 Events

Heat pump information evening Manchester | Aira

Aira are a leading air source heat pump provider and manufacturer dedicated to delivering intelligent, affordable and carbon-emission-free heating solutions. They are holding an information day at their Hub in Manchester on 27 July (11am-3pm) when you can discover more about Aira and tour the Hub + see a live demonstration of the Aira Heat Pump and learn how it works + understand what happens during their home energy assessments + participate in Q&A with their technicians and book in a free home energy assessment.

And if you can't make their Hub get-together, Aira are exhibiting at The Home Upgrade Show this October - register free. Come along to meet them along with 50+ other retrofit-focused organisations - all together in one venue to chat with and help you progress your retrofit ambitions and projects.

✍🏽 Government & Policy

Interactive: Labour government’s in-tray for climate change, energy and nature - Carbon Brief

Prime minister Keir Starmer ran for office on a manifesto that promised big changes to the country’s climate, energy and nature policies. Key pledges – reiterated by secretary of state Ed Miliband in a message to civil servants at the department for energy security and net-zero – include reaching zero-carbon power by 2030, relaunching the country’s ambition to be a climate leader on the global stage and rewriting the nation’s net-zero strategy.

Industry welcomes Chancellor’s housebuilding speech as important first step | Specification Online

In her first speech as Chancellor, The Rt. Hon. Rachel Reeves MP emphasised stability, investment and reform as her three pillars essential for ensuring growth is the Labour government’s national mission. The Chancellor highlighted that ‘nowhere is decisive reform needed more than in planning’, and announced initiatives to speed up the grid, remove barriers to onshore wind, and review the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

👷🏽‍♀️👷🏽‍♂️ Skills and Training

Employers! Help boost retrofit careers for Greater Manchester's young people

Ready for Retrofit Action Week (RAW) in Greater Manchester this October, Low Carbon Homes, the organization behind RAW, is partnering with the Greater Manchester Apprenticeship & Careers Service (GMACS) to raise awareness and inspire young people about retrofit careers. Your organization can host a GMACS-supported activity during Retrofit Action Week this October (05-13) to showcase the exciting career opportunities in retrofit.

First-of-its-kind retrofit designer course launches - Renewable Energy Installer & Specifier

The UK’s first retrofit designer course, based on the PAS 2035 framework, equips learners to create precise, bespoke designs for domestic properties. Curated by The Retrofit Academy and industry experts, it’s designed to enhance the skills of chartered architects, architectural technologists, chartered building surveyors, and professionals from the Chartered Institute of Building.

🤩 Local/Regional Action

Raven Housing Trust unveils sustainability training hub for tenants | Housing Digital

Redhill based housing association, Raven Housing Trust, has transformed one of its properties into a sustainability training hub as part of its decarbonisation and retrofit programme. Raven’s decarbonisation and retrofit programme involves upgrading up to 700 of its homes in the Redhill area with energy saving technologies using funds from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and its own investment.

Octopus Energy boss backs lower bills for people near wind farms

Energy boss Greg Jackson has said people living near wind farms – such as in Scotland - should pay less for their electricity. The founder and chief executive of Octopus said it was "crazy" that the electricity price was the same across the UK. His firm already offers a discount on bills for people living near wind farms, and this has led to lots of local interest in their construction, he said.

💬 Reports, Research, Guides

New research reveals crucial lessons for future retrofits - FMJ

Supported by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation and Historic England as well as in-kind contributions from project partners including Studio PDP, Retrofit Revisit investigates how 10 housing projects of varying archetypes and locations are performing 10 years after their original retrofit. The findings reveal that despite small fluctuations in performance over a decade, the retrofitted residences outperform the non-retrofitted housing stock overall. Residents’ feedback on their 10 years of occupancy in these retrofits has been positive, with increased comfort, especially during the colder months and with reduced energy bills.

A fifth of future homebuyers will go green for better mortgage rates – MAB

More than a fifth - 22% - of prospective homebuyers plan to improve the energy efficiency of their residences if it means they get a cheaper mortgage rate, research from a broker found. A study from Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) found that 36% would make their homes greener to enhance the livability of their properties while 32% believe better energy efficiency would make their properties more attractive when it was time to sell.

Insights on EPC Reform | National Retrofit Hub

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) play a crucial role in retrofitting the UK’s buildings: informing policy, finance and household decision making. The National Retrofit Hub (NRH) is exploring how EPCs could be reformed to enable the local delivery of good quality retrofit at scale. Our methodology for this work is to understand what recommendations for the industry are already on the table, explore how these might work together, and to seek insights from our network and across the retrofit sector. To do this, we have created a document covering all of the new insights we have gathered about EPCs so far.

Buyers increasingly seeking energy efficient homes: Knight Frank | Property Reporter

A recent buyer sentiment survey by Knight Frank reveals a shift in housing preferences, with one-fifth of respondents expressing an interest in purchasing a new home. This marks an increase from the 13% recorded in the three preceding years. Energy efficiency has become a crucial factor for homebuyers, with 60% citing it as their primary reason for choosing a new build. This trend is driven by the desire to reduce winter heating costs and mitigate the effects of increasingly frequent summer heatwaves.

Marketing green heating and insulation products: Consumer law compliance advice for businesses - GOV.UK

The products covered by this advice include heat pumps (both air source and ground source), biomass boilers, solar thermal panels and home insulation (such as cavity wall, solid wall, loft, underfloor and roof insulation). It also covers solar PV panels which, while not a green heating or insulation product, help consumers to make their home more energy efficient by generating their own electricity and are often advertised in similar ways. All of these products were included in the CMA’s consumer protection review.

⏭ Coming up

That's it for this issue

Next issue out on 31 July. When we will have plenty more retrofit-related news and action updates for you. And perhaps even some summer-like weather is happening where you are.

Thanks for reading. It's always great to have you with us.

PS: don't forget to sign up for something - it's all free and very worthwhile: * Gtr Manchester Retrofit Summit * The Home Upgrade Show * GMACS/RAW employer activities for retrofit careers

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