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Many retrofit programmes are quietly struggling – here’s why
We’ve been working at the coalface of this agenda since the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Pilot, and here’s what we’ve learnt about delivering retrofit at scale, writes Tara Gbolade, co-director of architecture firm Gbolade Design Studio and Mayor’s Design Advocate
Tara Gbolade is co-director of Gbolade Design Studio
We’ve been working at the coalface of this agenda since the SHDF Pilot, and here’s what we’ve learnt about delivering retrofit at scale, writes Tara Gbolade, co-director of architecture firm Gbolade Design Studio and Mayor’s Design Advocate #UKhousingThe pressure on housing associations is real and well understood. The Warm Homes Plan is live, the funding is flowing and boards want delivery.
What’s less often discussed is how many programmes are quietly struggling – not because of funding gaps or contractor shortages, but because of decisions made too early, with too little information, by teams stretched too thin. We’ve been working at the coalface of this agenda since the SHDF Pilot, through Wave 2 and into Wave 3 – here’s what we’ve learned.
Housing association stock doesn’t sit neatly in a spreadsheet. The homes that need retrofit most urgently are often the ones hardest to touch – in mixed-tenure blocks that require individual access negotiations for every dwelling, in conservation areas, on busy high streets where closing a pavement makes external wall insulation unviable. High rises bring their own compliance layer entirely.
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Programmes flounder not because the ambition is wrong, but because this complexity isn’t fully mapped at the outset. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero funding creates a genuine opportunity to fold retrofit into existing capital works programmes, compressing disruption and unlocking efficiencies, but only if decision-making is anchored in a fabric-first philosophy that accounts for these constraints from day one.
On programmes we’re currently delivering across London and the South East, costs are running between £10,000 and £22,000 per property. Asset managers and operations directors need that number on the table before financial modelling is signed off, because at this scale, a late surprise isn’t an inconvenience – it can end the programme.
“What we have found works well is adopting a root-and-branch approach, starting from the top”
Capturing this complexity requires a dedicated, genuinely engaged internal team. Housing staff are already stretched – that’s not lost on us. But where that internal commitment is absent, the consequences – cost overruns, programme delays, reputational damage with residents – are rarely small.
Delivering hundreds, or thousands, of homes within a single programme demands rigour and repeatability. What we have found works well is adopting a root-and-branch approach, starting from the top: establishing archetype groupings first – by construction type, age, condition and typology – before moving into property-specific decisions. Getting the archetype right allows the individual retrofit design to follow with far less friction.
Alongside this, transforming what is a highly technical and process-driven PAS 2035 process into a highly visual retrofit package means it is easy to access, easy to read and easy to understand – both for asset managers and the delivery partners (the main contractor who will be using this package to deliver the design).
Transforming these retrofit design packages into highly visual, accessible documents – designed to be used, not just filed – makes a material difference to how effectively decisions can been made and clarifies the process for making them.
The best results have come when the wider PAS 2035 team – programme manager, retrofit co-ordinator, retrofit assessor, contractor – is involved early and collaboratively. A strong team absorbs complexity and accelerates delivery. A weak one generates cascading reworks and unplanned costs. That dynamic is predictable and avoidable.
Done well, this rigour also generates something valuable beyond the current funding round: a rich data asset that housing associations can use to inform future investment decisions, asset management strategies and compliance reporting.
One practical note on procurement: when appointing your PAS 2035 design team, ask for evidence of programme management capability alongside accreditation. The two are not the same thing, and assuming they are is a costly mistake.
“Housing associations must try to build resident trust in a new generation of retrofit delivery. You may encounter real scepticism, sometimes outright hostility, toward retrofit delivery teams”
Remember, trust underpins everything – winning over residents is non-negotiable. The way residents feel about retrofit and the organisations delivering this is hugely influential to the process.
For example, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme left a legacy that is being felt by residents – the October 2025 National Audit Office report brought the problem into focus. Its findings were stark: a significant proportion of improvements funded under ECO – and the linked Great British Insulation Scheme – had been carried out to a poor standard. External wall insulation was singled out as a particular failure point.
Housing associations must try to build resident trust in a new generation of retrofit delivery. You may encounter real scepticism, sometimes outright hostility, toward retrofit delivery teams – and, by extension, toward the housing associations sending them.
While PAS 2035 is a fundamentally different framework, many residents don’t know this. Establishing that distinction – clearly, repeatedly and through the right people – is not a communications task to delegate late. It shapes access rates, programme timelines and whether properties stay in or drop out.
And drop-outs will happen. Tenure mix, inaccessibility, changed circumstances – some properties will leave the programme regardless of how well it’s managed. Having a waiting list of properties ready to enter when that happens has proved invaluable to the housing associations we are working with.
And finally, having a dedicated residents champion, working alongside your residents liaison officer, has been consistently one of the highest-value roles in every programme we’ve been part of.
Tara Gbolade, co-director, Gbolade Design Studio and Mayor’s Design Advocate
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