Wates has further cemented its presence as a leader in social housing retrofit having secured £107m of Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 2.1 contracts on behalf of 17 social landlords.
The milestone comes eight months after the Government allocated its latest round of SHDF funding, a total of £778m that is predicted to improve the energy performance of 90,000 homes.
Wates’ contracts will include the PAS2035-compliant retrofit of a range of energy efficiency measures in 4,590 properties across the UK, adding to the 2,037 social housing properties so far retrofitted by Wates.
The new SHDF Wave 2.1 contracts include 600 homes on behalf of Settle, which included early engagement to support Settle’s funding bid as well as work to build a PAS2030-compliant supply chain for swift mobilisation.
The new contracts also include retrofit work for 434 properties on behalf of Stonewater following a self-funded pilot retrofit programme, which was delivered by Wates last year.
All SHDF Wave 2.1 contracts will see Wates take a fabric first approach to improve property efficiency in line with Government targets for all social housing to achieve Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C by 2030.
Wates’ new SHDF pipeline builds on the Group’s continued work in social housing retrofit, which to-date has seen the business complete a total of 19 projects, collectively valued at £46m.
Since launching its PAS2035 social housing retrofit service, Wates has retrofitted 2,037 social housing properties, 1,000 of which have been completed this year. These include over 300 homes on behalf of Northampton Partnership Homes through SHDF Demonstrator and Wave 1 funding.
David Morgan, Executive Managing Director of Wates Property Services, commented: “We have built some excellent momentum in our social housing retrofit service, and this pace is absolutely necessary to achieve the ambitious target set by the Government for our social housing customers. We worked closely with 14 of our customers during the SHDF Wave 2.1 tendering process, enabling them to secure a total of £100m, but securing funding is only one piece of the puzzle for what is still a relatively new industry. There is work to be done to build supply chain capacity, skills, and compliance but we are making great strides in overcoming these challenges.
“We are very proud to be leading the industry through our partnerships with a number of industry bodies, including The Retrofit Academy and National Home Decarbonisation Group to ensure the Retrofit sector has longevity, and crucially, is equipped for the work that is ahead of us.
“Working in partnership with our customers is always vital, but is especially so for social housing retrofit. Our work with Settle, which is the latest in a line of SHDF Wave 2.1 contracts, is a perfect example of how we can work collaboratively. By supporting Settle’s funding bid, we were able to engage very early on with both residents and supply chain partners, giving us the very best start to an exceptional contract.”
