The Community Retrofit Hub Project
Our experience from Fishwick is that a lot of low-income and vulnerable households need deeper support than just providing advice. We know that the process of retrofit itself causes stress and anxiety, so for fuel poor households already facing stress and anxiety in their daily lives it amplifies the multitude of barriers that we know prevent uptake of measures in all households (lack of awareness, unsureness of the benefits, who to believe, whether installers will do a good job, etc.)
The process that we are piloting in the Community Retrofit Hub project is to first build trust with the community so that householders will be willing to go on the journey with us. We will then help them understand the potential benefits of measures and support them through the process if they choose to go ahead, including liaison with installers before, during and after the works. If we want to do retrofit properly the crucial thing is to meaningfully engage with householders, to recognise that these are their homes, and to give them a real sense of agency through the process (although scheme design often precludes this as well.) We will be working on householders’ behalf as consultants while also trying to be catalysts for retrofit activity in the local area so that this is joined up and provides a range of options.
Funded by Skipton Building Society, this is a two-year pilot project, which began in October 2024. One pilot covers the Sharrow area of Sheffield, and the second, in Burnley, covers four wards: Bank Hall, Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, Queensgate and Lanehead. A third pilot will follow in the coming months.
The objective of the project is to increase the rate of retrofit delivered by available funding streams in areas with high levels of fuel poverty. To achieve this, National Energy Action will embed dedicated teams within such communities to support householders through the retrofit journey and to instigate concerted action to make that journey easier. There are eight strategic aims through which this will be achieved as set out below:
The energy action teams will work at the heart of the selected communities to help people understand what opportunities are available for their homes and what the benefits of those measures are likely to be. They will help households to apply for grants and support them through the installation process, including making sure that those households can be confident that work meets all relevant standards and that suitable levels of aftercare are in place. The team will also be able to fill gaps in funding where this may be needed.
Alongside this, the energy action teams will map out what retrofit measures are most needed in their area, build partnerships, and adopt good practice from other initiatives. Through this they will be able to drive concerted and co-ordinated action so that as many local homes as possible are made more affordable to heat and more comfortable to live in.
Alongside the practical work of the project, National Energy Action will carry out social evaluation to better understand the impacts of this work and will advocate at a local, regional and national level to influence those who design energy efficiency programmes to make decisions that consider and include the needs of vulnerable low-income householders.