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A consortium comprising NatWest, British Gas, and Places for People has joined forces to explore a novel funding model for green retrofits. The initiative, which was revealed yesterday, aims to decarbonise up to 1,000 social homes. It seeks to create a "blueprint" for cost-effective retrofitting across the UK's social housing sector.
The consortium includes retrofitting expert Sero and the climate tech finance platform Tallarna. Together, they aim to lower energy bills and cut emissions for social housing residents by reducing the upfront costs of green retrofit measures such as solar panels and improved insulation.
The trial will focus on 1,000 homes owned by Places for People and aim to measure the environmental, financial, and health benefits for residents. Additionally, the initiative will serve as a "real-world testbed," demonstrating how to minimize the upfront investment required for landlords to implement emission-reducing upgrades.
The project will explore various funding solutions to cover initial retrofit costs, including rooftop solar power generation revenue, issuing retrofit credits, and utilizing government grants.
Pineapple Sustainable Partnerships, a consultancy and venture builder, is leading the trial, which aims to streamline the decarbonisation process for landlords. This effort comes in response to landlords' frequent complaints that high capital requirements pose a significant obstacle to retrofitting their properties.
The consortium aimed to create a commercially viable model for funding green social home retrofits that "can easily be adopted by the entire sector" to help households maintain "healthier, more comfortable, and energy-efficient homes at scale."
Dan Rosenfield, managing director for Net Zero at British Gas, said the collaborative trial would aim "to implement best practices, learnings, and technology."
"As part of our ambition to energise a greener fairer future, we are committed to helping households to decarbonise in a way that is simple and affordable," he said. "By doing this, we will help tackle decarbonisation at scale in the social housing sector and help social housing residents save money."
According to the consortium, British Gas is set to act as a key delivery partner for the trial. Places for People will lead the initial project phase, NatWest will provide financial backing and expertise in funding solutions, and Sero will be responsible for retrofit technologies, measurement, and billing.
"Places for People recognises the critical need for fresh ideas in the social housing sector to address sustainability issues," said Greg Reed, CEO at Places for People. "By participating in this project, we're driving progress towards our own sustainability goals while supporting the industry in developing innovative, scalable solutions to achieve net-zero emissions."
The new Labour government has pledged to invest an extra £6.6bn over the course of the current Parliament in addition to existing funding programmes to upgrade and insulate five million homes across the UK through its proposed 'Warm Homes Plan.'
Minister for Energy Consumers Miatta Fahnbulleh welcomed the launch of the new trial. "To reach our clean power by 2030 target, we are going further and faster in upgrading homes across the UK as part of our Warm Homes Plan," she said. "I welcome the move from British Gas and its partners to rollout low-carbon heating to more social homes, helping to cut emissions and strengthen our energy independence."
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