Harnessing diversity and customer voice are key when it comes to retrofit, says Annabel Grey.
Retrofitting homes to net zero is a tricky business due to the sheer scale of the task, but the wide range of property archetypes owned by social housing providers means that one size does not fit all for the retrofit solution.
With the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy announcing the allocation of its social housing decarbonisation funding in England, we hope that the sector has learnt from previous retrofit pilots, sector research and about the importance of putting the customer voice at the heart of this work to recognise the varying customer needs. To achieve this, we want to see organisations building time into delivery programmes for adequate resident engagement. There are times we have seen the delivery rushed, to complete the project in line with funding deadlines. This typically results in latent defects and unintended consequences, such as damp and mould, to the detriment of the customer. Similar points will apply in Wales and across the UK as well as in England.
There is an opportunity for housing associations and local authorities looking to roll out retrofit programmes to get it right the first time, simply through adequate engagement with their customers. Engagement provides clarity and highlights the end user’s concerns and requirements so that organisations can harness this diversity of thought to problem-solve and develop even more robust solutions for net zero. This approach leads to greater opportunity for organisations to understand what other asset management related issues the resident might be facing with their property and how widespread or systemic any of these issues are.
Through such engagement, housing providers can ensure retrofit solutions are easy to manage and work for the resident’s lifestyle, ultimately making sure that residents interact with the technology and designs of the building in the most effective way. Despite the initial cost, a well-designed and high-quality retrofit paired with effective engagement will outlast cheaper solutions. Not only will it reduce energy consumption and safeguard the health and well-being of tenants living in renovated homes, but it will ensure the long-term costs are minimised.
Tenant Satisfaction Measures will come into effect in England in April 2023 and will require social landlords to collect and report on key satisfaction measures, including overall satisfaction and satisfaction with repairs and other services.[1] Coupled with a number of regulatory changes around consumer standards, such as the principle that residents’ views are listened to and acted on, including being treated with fairness and respect and diverse needs accounted for means there is nowhere to hide. Now is certainly the time to consider the role of residents in shaping retrofit.
Arguably the most important asset to a housing provider is their customers, without them they would cease to exist, so it is imperative that their requirements are not ignored. With a diverse range of homes, 26 million in total, that need to be retrofitted (of which 4.1 million are social homes and of those 1.6 million perform poorly at below an EPC C rating[2]) across the UK, there will undoubtedly be a huge range of occupants, with unique, varying needs and ways in which they use and live in their homes. It would therefore be foolish to assume that what works for one household will work for these 26 million homes.
Like with working out the design solution for retrofit, engagement with the customer is not a one size fits all approach. We want to encourage housing providers not to lose sight of the opportunities attached to the uniqueness of each resident and their voice. The customer voice should be the most powerful one in articulating how homes are used and what requirements need to be met. If housing providers can harness a diverse range of thoughts through proactive engagement, a huge amount of value can be brought to the retrofit process to help get it right the first time for the resident, the property and housing association to unlock a range of benefits for all.
Annabel Gray is project director for Sustainability at Altair
[1] Regulator of Social Housing (2022) Tenant Satisfaction Measures.