Small housing providers are often responsible for some of the most challenging homes to decarbonise, including listed buildings, solid-wall properties and homes in conservation areas.  

As part of Energiesprong UK’s work under the Mayor of London’s Zero Carbon Accelerator, we’ve developed a new guide that offers practical retrofit pathways to help landlords tackle these complexities while navigating an evolving regulatory landscape.  

‍‘Retrofit pathways for small social housing providers with traditional stock’ draws on tailored individual retrofit support we provided through the Zero Carbon Accelerator to eleven members of the g320 group of smaller London housing associations.   

These findings have been translated into a usable resource for small housing providers across the UK with heritage and hard-to-treat homes.  

A practical roadmap for retrofitting traditional homes

The guide provides a clear framework to help balance regulatory compliance, resident wellbeing, heritage considerations, funding constraints and long-term decarbonisation goals. Highlights include:  

• Practical retrofit pathways to meet EPC requirements and future Home Energy Model metrics.

• Guidance on identifying and correcting inaccurate EPC data that may be affecting investment decisions.

• Recommendations for low-disruption, cost-effective measures that can improve performance without compromising traditional building fabric.

• Advice on adopting a 'heat pump ready' approach that aligns future heating decarbonisation with planned maintenance cycles.

• Strategies for mitigating ventilation, moisture, overheating and climate resilience risks.

• Planning and procurement guidance tailored to heritage and conservation constraints.

• Analysis of available funding routes and approaches to resident engagement and messaging.

The recommendations in the report adopt a pragmatic approach in line with Historic England’s 'Whole Building Approach for Historic Buildings' guidance.  

Alongside the recommendations, the report provides practical tools, case studies, templates, checklists, and links to useful resources.  

Preparing for EPC C and the Home Energy Model

With social landlords focusing on EPC compliance by 2030, the report also provides practical guidance on how to prepare for the forthcoming transition from SAP and RdSAP calculation methods to the Home Energy Model (HEM).  

HEM will introduce new ways of assessing building performance against three separate metrics: fabric efficiency, heating systems and smart readiness. The report offers a recommended delivery sequence for EPC and HEM compliance and considerations for long-term investment planning.  

Lillian Lochner, Project Manager at Energiesprong UK, said:

"Small housing providers face some of the most complex retrofit challenges in the sector. They are often responsible for historic and hard-to-treat homes, while working with limited resources and capacity. This report is designed to bridge the gap between policy and delivery, providing practical, achievable guidance that helps organisations make informed investment decisions and develop realistic pathways towards net zero."

Download the guide

Retrofit pathways for small social housing providers with traditional stock is available now on the Zero Carbon Accelerator Knowledge Hub.

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Zero Carbon Accelerator

The Mayor of London is delivering the Zero Carbon Accelerator in collaboration with Mott MacDonald, Energy Saving Trust and an alliance of experts in energy solutions, zero carbon strategy, retrofit, modelling, architecture, finance and more: ACA Studios, Altair, Ambue, Arthian, ClimateView, COWI, EEVS, Energiesprong UK, ERM, IES, Pascall+Watson Architects, Pollard Thomas Edwards, Retrofit Academy and Zerogram.

https://zerocarbonaccelerator.london/  

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Header image credit: Harrison Housing

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