Retrofit Decarbonisation Project

West Yorkshire, England

Project Value: £930,000

The project

This project for Together Housing was funded through the Social Housing Decarbonation Fund (SHDF) Wave 1 and involved decarbonisation retrofit measures and associated works to 68 occupied flats in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

All flats were fitted with EWI and additional loft insulation. The roof gables were extended, and we renewed soffits and facias on a case-by-case basis. During these works, we also trialled new, more robust roofline closure systems that met PAS2035 requirements, enabling us to offer tested alternatives on future projects.

Most residents in these flats were aged 55 years or older and in retirement. This meant that some of them were apprehensive about moving away from gas heat sources, having used them for most of their lives. This is quite a common problem with retrofit works, so our expert team spent time conducting face-to-face meetings with individuals to explain to them how the new measures worked, how to maintain them, and answered any questions or queries they had.

As an additional feature, we looked at the safety and aesthetics of the communal areas of the flats. Deciding that the facias needed modernising and the general safety of the entrances needed improving, we renewed the fronts of all blocks of flats, modernising all doors and windows in the shared spaces and generally improving the safety of the entrances.

Results

Finishing on-time and within budget, this project was a pronounced success. Together Housing confirmed in March 2023 that we had been awarded Phase 2 of the project, with an estimated initial budget of £4 million and a significant expansion in scope.

For this project, Together Housing Group, in partnership with Together Net Zero, were shortlisted for the Best Retrofit Initiative in the Northern Housing Awards. Congratulations to everyone involved – a huge achievement for the project and great news for the next phase of works.