Major UK Retrofit Programmes Drive Warm, Efficient Homes

Welcome to Net Zero News, your daily briefing on the UK’s transition to a low‑carbon future.

A wave of impactful retrofit initiatives is reshaping the built environment across the UK, delivering energy-efficient homes while tackling fuel poverty and supporting net-zero goals.

A housing association has launched a £72 million retrofit programme to upgrade 3,064 homes across Liverpool, Halton, Carlisle, Middleton and Enfield. Supported by £36 million from the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (match-funded by the association), works begin this autumn and include measures such as cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation, solar panels, new doors and double glazing to bring homes up to EPC Band C. The project also aims to improve health outcomes, reduce energy bills, create local employment opportunities and tackle carbon emissions.

Separately, Basildon Borough Council has appointed Morgan Sindall Property Services to retrofit 1,000 council homes over the next three years under the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. The £9.3 million contract will deliver loft and cavity wall insulation, solar PV panels, LED lighting, air-source heat pumps and mechanical extract ventilation to achieve at least EPC C by summer 2029.

Meanwhile, Vivid Housing has secured a landmark £50 million green retrofit loan from Barclays, backed by a 70% guarantee from the National Wealth Fund. This will fund retrofit of over 2,000 homes across the South East, including measures like insulation, heat pumps, solar and water-efficiency enhancements, delivering warmer, more efficient homes and contributing to decarbonisation.

These local projects occur alongside more strategic sector-wide efforts. The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) has awarded £778 million through Wave 2.1 to upgrade approximately 90,000 lower-performing social homes, with a further £75 million allocated through Wave 2.2 supporting a further 8,800 homes. Wave 3 will deploy £1.2 billion from 2025–2028, with a new strategic-partnership funding route, optional green heat system subsidies and increased flexibility for smaller providers.

The Future Homes Hub is also advancing sector-wide carbon reduction in new housing. Their Whole Life Carbon (WLC) Benchmarking Report 2025 provides metrics on embodied and operational carbon across new homes, expressed as kg CO₂e per square metre, enabling comparison and progress tracking.

In addition, developers now have a transition framework via the New Homes Sector Net Zero Transition Plan, developed with the Carbon Trust. It offers a shared pathway aligning with national carbon budgets and sector targets, with many major homebuilders already committed.

Further embedding sustainability in housing design, the Future Homes Hub recently launched a practical Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Good Practice Guide to assist developers in integrating on-site biodiversity measures. The Hub also expanded its ‘Homes for Nature’ initiative to include apartments, supporting features like nesting bricks, hedgehog highways, pollinator planting and SuDS, with participation from homebuilders delivering over 100,000 new homes annually.

What this means:
These developments collectively demonstrate a bold momentum in retrofitting Britain’s housing stock. From local authority and housing association-led programmes to industry-wide strategies for new construction, the UK is mobilising funding, expertise and innovation. These efforts offer warmer homes, lower bills, carbon savings and biodiversity benefits, while bolstering local economies and the green workforce. Crucially, the combination of retrofit schemes and systemic frameworks such as the SHDF and Future Homes Hub initiatives provides a scalable, replicable model for delivering decarbonised, resilient built environments at national scale.

Upcoming Events:
Net Zero Scotland Projects Conference -16 June 2026, Edinburgh

Net Zero Nations Projects Conference – 6 October 2026, Westminster

Do you have technologies, innovations or solutions that can help public-sector net-zero projects?
Email: lee@net-zero.scot