Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH) and Wates Living Space have successfully reduced energy consumption for 80 social housing properties, with a 73% reduction in space heating demand, protecting households from rising energy costs.
The findings closely follow Wates Living Space’s completion of one of its largest SHDF Demonstrator projects to date. The flagship retrofit project commenced in 2021 and was intended to improve energy efficiency in line with the Government’s target for all social housing properties to be Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C rating by 2030.
Driven by an ambition to reduce space heating demand by 75% and achieve a 70% reduction in carbon emissions, NPH’s SHDF Demonstrator project has seen the team take a whole house approach to reduce space heating demand to no greater than 50 kWh/m2.
The average space heating demand of the 80 homes selected for retrofit was 208 kWh/m2 pre retrofit. Post retrofit, the space heating demand is modelled to have reduced to 56 kWh/m2, representing a 73% reduction in space heating demand. All figures are modelled on data received from the Retrofit Designer, using full SAP.
Costing approximately £48k per home, energy efficiency measures adopted include photovoltaics (PV), external wall insulation, ventilation, loft insulation and new windows and doors, all of which have been part funded through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
Air source heat pumps were also installed, funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme (LAD), phase 2.
Completion marks Wates Living Space’s continued growth in social housing retrofit, which earlier this year saw the launch of Wates Retrofit, a service offer that currently comprises £45m live social housing retrofit projects on site. This has so far seen Wates Living Space install energy efficiency measures at over 550 social housing properties.
As part of the project, NPH has also invested in wider energy efficiency technologies, including air source heat pumps with the aim of exploring additional measures to inform future retrofit projects. This also included an Internet of Things (IoT) landlord hub and dashboard systems to enable measurement of heat loss, indoor air quality and humidity.
David Morgan, Executive Managing Director of Wates Property Services, commented: “Social housing retrofit puts into practice an ethos that we have long believed; working in partnership is the most efficient means of achieving excellent results. This is a belief that has been held on both sides of our work with Northampton Partnership Homes; they are an extremely proactive and astute client. They know what they want to achieve and are highly effective at implementing their strategy.
“Nevertheless, social housing retrofit is a journey with constant lessons to learn. Overcoming supply chain challenges, delivering to programme, understanding funding and ensuring compliance while policy frequently changes around us is all a learning curve. Fortunately, we are on this journey together and in partnership with Northampton Partnership Homes, we have developed extensive best practice that can be taken forward to ensure continued success.”
Winston Williams, Director of Asset Management at NPH said: “This project targeted homes built in the early 1900’s, which were some of the least energy efficient we manage, so we’re absolutely delighted with these outcomes. We’ve spoken to residents who have complimented Wates Living Space for their communication and professionalism throughout the works on their home. They’re extremely pleased with the results and have told us how much easier it is to heat their homes and keep warm. Saving money on energy bills is another advantage, especially in the current climate of rising living costs. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Wates Living Space and bringing these benefits to more residents.”
