Breaking down barriers to home retrofit through collective community action
Foreword
Summary What we did
The road to retrofit Opportunities and recommendations
What’s next?
Foreword
A massive 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from energy used to heat and power our homes1. To bring down these emissions, an estimated 19 million homes need to be retrofitted by 20302, so a huge challenge lies ahead.
In September 2022 Hubbub launched the Big Street Upgrade, an experimental project in Glasgow bringing local households together in a collective community effort to make their homes more energy efficient. Could community collaboration help to deliver retrofit at the scale needed to meet the UK’s carbon targets? What barriers exist and what support is needed to overcome them?
For all the clear financial and environmental benefits of retrofitting, we were acutely aware that the process can appear complex and off-putting to the public, and the payback time can be lengthy.
That said, this project took place during a period which saw historically high energy bills in the UK, when the public was more interested than ever in future-proofing their homes and protecting themselves from rising bills.
Researchers and campaigners have long made the case for a community or area-based approach to retrofit3,4,5,6,7,8,9. We explored whether a street-wide approach could overcome these barriers; supporting the residents in their decision-making, unlocking funding and making retrofit more accessible and appealing.
We tested a combination of well-crafted and tailored communications and personalised support alongside offering specific infrastructural changes.
Could community collaboration help to deliver retrofit at the scale needed to meet the UK’s carbon targets?
The results have been fascinating, if disheartening at times. The subject proved to be even more opaque and laden with jargon than we anticipated, and many households found it hard to navigate their way through an over-complicated process, even when being shepherded by industry experts. There is a lack of trust in the wider industry, compounded by unreliable contractors showing insufficient consideration for the pride people feel in their homes. And there are media headlines which cast doubt on the wisdom and effectiveness of many of the changes we know households need to make.
Finally, financing remains a huge obstacle; only a few households we worked with self-funded retrofit work, in what is a relatively affluent part of Glasgow. A big question remains how to support middle-income households who don’t qualify for grants, but also don’t have the means to self-fund.
All in all, it’s a hugely challenging environment in which to attempt shift the behaviour of a sizeable chunk of the country; there are currently significant systemic hurdles that are likely to curtail the best efforts to support households to retrofit their homes, even where there is the will to do so. The government has set ambitious targets to have clean energy by 2030, however our work on this project demonstrates the urgent need to educate the public and to support them along on the journey to net zero.
This is a shared challenge for government, business and civil society over the coming years. If we can crack it, the environmental impact could be huge, as well as additional benefits to household finances, health and comfort.
This report sets out some of the real-world challenges faced by households looking to retrofit their homes and offers some recommendations and insights on potential ways forward. If you’re interested in discussing how Hubbub can support this ongoing household engagement, please contact gavin@hubbub.org.uk.
Summary of insights and recommendations
3 2 1
Under one roof Street spirit
There is a real benefit to approaching this issue street by street. Many of the households will have similar queries, especially if the housing stock is all the same. Once one neighbour gets something done, it gives others a sense of what’s also possible for their home. Theoretically, working in the same location with similar materials should also speed up the installation process for the contractor.
For many residents, going through the process as a street was appealing as they felt it de-risked and legitimised the experience. Many streets are now connected through neighbourhood WhatsApp groups, making it easier than ever to tap into these neighbourhood networks. Hiring a local community engagement coordinator also worked well to offer updates, facilitate conversation, answer questions and relay any resident concerns.
Sorry, you lost me at retrofit
Retrofit is awash with technical jargon and abbreviations which can be very confusing and off-putting for people. However, when broken down into more manageable chunks and everyday language (for example; draughtproofing, insulation, boiler upgrade) households felt it was within closer reach.
Homeowner pride Time it right
Renovations are a major undertaking for homeowners who take understandable pride in their homes, which is often their most valuable asset. This can clash with how contractors might view a retrofit project as ‘just another job’ and want to get works delivered quickly, which can lead to important details being overlooked. There is also a need for greater transparency and reassurance from contractors. Households can easily be scared away from retrofit, especially with so much negativity in the media, so their concerns should not be taken lightly.
Before the trial, the residents who had already made home improvements did so at a time when their life circumstances changed in a notable way, for example moving house, a growing family, children leaving home or an expensive appliance breaking such as the boiler. This presents an opportunity to use this moment of change as an anchor for communications around retrofitting.
What we did
In September 2022, Hubbub invited Glasgow residents to join a trial.
Hubbub led on the campaign development, behavioural insight and measurement and we worked with a large energy company to bring their retrofitting expertise, focusing on energy efficiency, insulation and renewables. The aim from the outset was that the full learnings – highs and lows - would be shared to feed into research on retrofit and hopefully catalyse progress in this area.
Two streets in Kelvindale were chosen for their strong community spirit, interest in the project, and suitability based on specific criteria, such as a mix of income levels and housing types (semi-detached and terraced homes).
A core group applied for the trial and recruited their neighbours using a combination of door-knocking, leaflets and word-of-mouth, resulting in 28 households signing up. One participant was hired as the community engagement coordinator to support the project and advocate for the group.
Hubbub conducted in-depth interviews with each household to understand their energy habits and motivations for participating. These 40-60 minute (paid) interviews helped shape communications around their needs. As a result, a private Facebook group was created to share energy-saving tips, project updates and retrofit news, and became a space for participants to share ideas, questions, successes, and challenges as the trial progressed.
Hubbub hosted two Q&A sessions via Zoom for residents to ask questions, including technical ones about the different retrofit measures. Energy-saving kits, including smart plugs and chimney balloons for draughty chimneys, were distributed to residents, alongside tips to encourage every day, energy-saving behaviours.
The households underwent home surveys to assess their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and determine their eligibility for Government funding. Each household received a detailed report outlining potential home upgrades, with the option to discuss the findings with a representative from the energy company.
The changes we were interested in were:
• Solid wall insulation
• Loft insulation
• Underfloor insulation
• Cavity wall insulation
• Upgrading windows
• Upgrading doors
• Hot water boiler pipe insulation
• Mechanical ventilation
• Heating system upgrades
• Solar or thermal PV
In March 2023, the project stalled when the third-party contractor who was due to make retrofits, withdrew due to internal issues. After several months of negotiations, a new contractor was secured in January 2024, and residents’ funding eligibility was reassessed.
What funding options were on offer?
Eligible residents proceeded with retrofits and after these were complete, Hubbub conducted follow-up interviews with both eligible and non-eligible residents to gather feedback. An EPC rating shows how energy efficient a building is.
Households were kept up-to-date via Facebook
Shortly after the trial got underway, the Government launched the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) in March 2023: a home insulation grant covering one measure for homes that have an EPC rating of D to G and are in council tax bands A to E, in Scotland. The energy company partnering with Hubbub for the trial surveyed homes to check their eligibility, with three households opting out for personal reasons.
Of the 25 residents whose homes were assessed, nine qualified for GBIS funding. The remaining 17 were eligible for the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme, which provides a grant, interest-free loan, or a combination of both, to support clean heating systems and energy efficiency installations. However, none of the residents pursued this scheme.
Homes eligible for Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme
eligible for GBIS funding
The road to retrofit
At the end of the trial, eight residents had made a retrofit change to their home, from an initial cohort of 28. Five of these upgrades were funded through the GBIS scheme while three were self-funded. Here’s how they achieved this.
The
starting post: initial attitudes towards retrofit
28 households on board
Our cohort of residents were open-minded and knowledgeable about the topic of retrofit – likely more so than the public at large - and willing to engage in retrofitting, even if they couldn’t afford to fund it themselves right away. They were curious about the national conversation on retrofitting and saw it as the ‘right thing to do’.
To go ahead with retrofit, the cost benefits had to be clear: payback times, upfront costs put in context and made meaningful. While saving money was the primary motivator, they were also interested in adding value to the home, cutting their environmental footprint and the ability to protect against future energy crises. Even the most knowledgeable residents lacked full confidence in retrofitting. Some were aware of snippets of information from various sources, while others felt retrofitting was risky without expert guidance and that knowing someone with experience and advice to give was reassuring. There was a fear of being ripped off or misled and residents mentioned seeing horror stories circulating on social media about renewable energy.
Several residents reported past issues with contractors, including distrust over quotes and transparency. Some contractors provided inconsistent pricing or declined projects due to home characteristics, adding to residents’ uncertainty and reluctance.
We looked into upgrading our windows but got quotes ranging from £4k to £16k so it was so difficult to know who was taking the piss.”
- Gemma and Luke*
It was unbelievable, it was such a faff and went on and on. It never happened in the end; it was too much hassle.”
- Sam
I’ve heard mixed things good and bad about heat pumps. The worst is that they don’t work properly”
- Darren
We started our extension the winter before lockdown when I was pregnant. The contractor went under, and we lost all our money.”
- Susie and Dan
* Names of project participants have been changed
Residents also spoke about the challenge of researching retrofit and navigating government funding schemes, explaining that the process was time consuming and confusing.
We did look at it but it’s just so boring and it’s just so time consuming because of all the people that you don’t trust to do the right thing.”
- Jo
Energy performance reviews
25 households on board
The partner energy company offered a free energy performance review, (usually costing £45-£120) to each household. This motivated the group, as it provided an updated assessment of their home, how any changes they’d made over the past few years had affected their EPC rating and what further measures were recommended. At this stage, three residents decided not to proceed with this review for personal reasons.
Even residents who did not qualify for GBIS funding spoke about the benefit of having an updated EPC rating completed and how it helped them ‘know where to start’ with future retrofit changes.
The two people that came round to do our survey were really helpful and really informative. They were able to explain what size of insulation I’d need and that the loft was where we were likely losing the most heat”
- Jo
Residents who had installed retrofit measures prior to the trial starting, such as Alan, shared how he benefitted from discussing more advanced retrofit measures, such as heat pumps, with the home-energy experts.
They gave me some tips about heat pumps and changes I’d need to make to my home in order to make one work, which was helpful”
- Alan
9 eligible households on board Funding
Who in the eligible group went ahead?
5 out of 9 eligible households
Following the EPC surveys, nine were eligible for GBIS funding. A few residents were on the borderline of eligibility, for example having a council tax band of D but an EPC rating of C. If a household had already installed a retrofit measure such as underfloor insulation this likely meant they were no longer eligible. This was confusing and frustrating for many of the residents who felt the criteria were too arbitrary and too strict.
Only three households were willing and able to fund the works themselves, with cost continuing to be a barrier for most.
We just missed out on the funding. To ultimately to be told, oh no, your home is too efficient already, that was disappointing”
Out of the nine GBIS-eligible households, five went ahead with a retrofit measure. Three residents chose cavity wall insulation, while two had underfloor insulation fitted.
Rebecca’s retrofit story
Overcoming scepticism and installing cavity wall insulation thanks to GBIS eligibility
Rebecca, a schoolteacher and local resident, was initially sceptical about the trial: ‘I didn’t think it would lead to any works being done,’ she recalled. However, she was drawn in by the ‘local aspect’ of the project, explaining, ‘I did get a sense from early on that this was something a bit different.’ Knowing that her neighbours were participating also encouraged her: ‘It helped that you could see it wasn’t just us taking part’.
Rebecca hadn’t expected to qualify for funding and was pleasantly surprised when she did. ‘A massive positive was realising we were eligible for this,’ she noted. ‘We’re two working professionals who live in a nice house in a nice area. I thought, ‘’we’re probably not entitled to this until maybe we retire”.’
Rebecca noticed an immediate impact after having insulation fitted and now felt prepared for winter: ‘I’ve been saying to my husband I already feel it’s warmer in the older part of the house’. ‘I feel as though we’re about to face a winter and we’re much better prepared, we’ve fitted the insulation where we can... I think it will make a big difference’.
Karen’s retrofit story
GBIS eligible with a new contractor
Karen qualified for GBIS funding but used an alternative contractor to complete her insulation, citing ‘poor communication’ and ‘long delays’ as reasons why she found an alternative company to install her cavity wall insulation.
She explained that she was ‘grateful that the trial drew my attention to the (GBIS) scheme’ and noted ‘it made us think about the energy efficiency of our home in general’. However, Karen expressed how the trial delays and poor communication from the contractor were frustrating: ‘I’ve waited a whole year, we had the whole winter, it was freezing cold, and we could have probably just had insulation last winter if we’d found a different contractor...’
Who in the eligible group didn’t go ahead?
4 households didn’t go ahead
Not all residents were willing to go ahead with the works.
Dan chose not to go ahead because of concerns that cavity wall insulation would impact the mechanism of his house’s sash windows. He was also concerned that the insulation works would be more disruptive than anticipated. He cited the need for vents to be drilled and an extraction fan fitted as something they hadn’t anticipated and therefore weren’t prepared to install. He said, ‘Maybe if it had been explained earlier that ventilation would’ve needed to be fitted, that would have been ok.’
Kim was worried about what she’d read about cavity wall insulation online. ‘There was a lot of bad publicity around cavity wall insulation at the time. We were waiting for (the contractor) to come back with specific details of what the insulation consists of and what the process would be if we discovered damp, but we did not hear back about this.’
Works were booked in with the other two residents, Ben and Harry, but had to be postponed as an important eligibility document hadn’t been sent out to residents. These must be complete before any appointments could be booked in. At this stage, Ben and Harry were weary of the setbacks, leaving them disillusioned with the project as a whole and decided to drop out.
I imagined the funding would cover a whole home retrofit but all this effort for just one measure isn’t worth it.”
- Ben
Retrofitting without the trial contractor
3 households
Three residents, Caroline, Alan and James, were not eligible for GBIS funding but decided to self-fund retrofit changes to their home.
Caroline and Alan both installed retrofit measures themselves and James had support fitting in underfloor insulation as part of a larger kitchen refurbishment.
Caroline
Caroline installed loft insulation after hearing from the EPC surveyor that her existing loft insulation was ‘some of the worst he’d seen in years’. Caroline bought and fitted the new insulation with her husband and also ended up ‘upgrading parts of our roof, whilst we were up there.’
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James
James said while it was disappointing to not receive funding, the trial was the impetus for getting works done. ‘We had known this (retrofit) was something we’d needed to do for ages but had never got round to it, and so even though we didn’t get the (GBIS) funding, being part of the trial nudged us to buy new loft insulation and finally get this done.’
Alan 3
Alan upgraded the gable wall of his house by adding insulated plaster board.
Opportunities and recommendations
Retrofitting the same neighbourhood invites plenty of opportunities for tailored and creative messaging. While relative numbers of the households who were able to get works done were low, there is still a sense that doing this as a collective brings benefits beyond going it alone. Given the experiences above, there are also some clear basics that the industry needs to get right.
Here’s where we feel the opportunities lie
Under one roof
Information about energy efficiency measures is generic, understandably so. This makes it difficult to know what’s applicable to your own home until you have a bespoke energy assessment.
At the start of the trial, many residents had questions around the same areas of their home. For example, they mentioned the backdoor directly entering the kitchen and causing draughts, wondered if double glazing was possible for their stain glass windows and many had had cavity wall insulation installed decades ago and were unsure if it was still doing its job.
A street or neighbourhood with similar housing stock helps open up these conversations and they can benefit from having shared characteristics. Once one neighbour gets something done, it gives others a sense of what’s also possible for their home. For example, Fred had already installed underfloor insulation himself when he joined the trial showing what was possible to other households. In theory, working in the same location with similar materials should also speed up the installation process for the contractor.
Street spirit
A number of residents discussed how going through the process as a street was a ‘big selling point’ of the trial and helped to reduce the potential risks of carrying out retrofit works on their own. Others spoke about how collaborating with neighbours helped them to trust that the trial was legitimate and feel less of a risk. Hiring a local community engagement coordinator who lived on the street worked well as she was able to have conversations with residents about the trial in person, relay concerns and opportunities to the project team.
While there is clear common ground with this type of project, it can be a leap to start talking about energy efficiency with your neighbours. This is where the community coordinator can really come into their own to help facilitate these types of conversations. You might never know that your neighbour three doors down has some good tips on underfloor insulation but some conversation starters in a dedicated forum can smooth the way for knowledge sharing.
I did enjoy chatting to the neighbours about it...there was a wee bit of community spirit generated”
- Susie and Dan
The community aspect was what attracted me to this project. I was interested in seeing if this could this have been a beginning of something bigger.”
- Dan
I thought, well, that’s a lady who lives up the road, I can speak to her.”
- Rebecca
(the Facebook page was helpful for) ‘debunking scare stories and some of the misinformation that’s out there.”
- Alan
Sorry, you lost me at retrofit
Retrofit is awash with technical jargon and abbreviations which can be very confusing and off-putting for people. Even the term retrofit encompasses a huge range of energy efficiency measures and is not a widely understood term.
Breaking retrofit down into smaller steps can help make these feel within reach and meets people where they are at, for example draught proof, insulate, ventilate, replace your gas boiler and so on. Since being part of the trial, those who had work done said that making their homes more energy efficient feels within reach.
For the homes getting insulation, ventilation was needed to let the house ‘breathe’. The contractors assumed this was understood and didn’t take the time to effectively communicate
It can often seem like you’ve got to totally reinvent your house but it’s more achievable than previously thought.”
- Jo
Hearing that ventilation needed to be fitted and that we’d need to drill holes in the walls, put us off having the insulation installed. We weren’t aware of this needing to happen at the beginning.”
- Dan
this with residents in advance. This then came as a surprise when the ventilation installers came to drill holes in walls. Unfortunately, this caused some residents to cancel or postpone the works as they didn’t feel well informed or assured that
this was the right approach.
Even if something is written into the contract or paperwork, contractors should walk households through the process from start to finish and allow plenty of opportunity for questions. While this may seem a given; tight deadlines or miscommunication between teams within an organisation delivering retrofit mean this can fall down the priority list. Time spent talking to households, giving clear briefings beforehand of what’s involved is crucial for building trust and giving them the confidence to go ahead.
There’s also no shortage of negative press and conflicting information on retrofit measures, particularly insulation and heat pumps, therefore it’s doubly important to reassure residents and equip them with all the facts. We saw this with the household who chose not to go ahead with cavity wall insulation after doing their own research about issues of damp that they had read about online.
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There was a lot of bad publicity around cavity wall insulation at the time. We were waiting for (the contractor) to come back with specific details of what the insulation consists of and what the process would be if we discovered damp, but we did not hear back about this.”
- Kim
Homeowner pride
Renovations are a major undertaking for homeowners, disrupting their lives and requiring trust in tradespeople to do the right thing for their home. Homeowners take pride in their homes, their most valuable asset, making aesthetics important. Residents in the trial loved their neighbourhood and intended to stay there long term, wanting to invest in their home and make it ‘the best or most efficient it can be.’ This can clash with how contractors might view a retrofit project, seeing a home as ‘simply a job’ and wanting to get works delivered quickly. This can lead to important details being overlooked, such as informing residents about ventilation and how it would look in their home, and indeed the failure to inform residents about drilling holes into their exterior walls.
Rather than a hindrance, this highlights the value of retrofitting: improving existing homes and preserving them. Retrofitting is twice as carbon efficient as building new and impacts three times as many households. Households taking steps to future-proof their homes should be championed and supported. This could be through messaging that emphasizes being house proud or loving your neighborhood, and through clear communication and engagement from retrofit providers, outlining what is going to happen as part of the retrofit project and addressing potential concerns of homeowners.
Time it right
Before the trial, the residents who had already made home improvements did so at a time when their life circumstances changed in a notable way. This included moving house, a growing family, children leaving home or an expensive appliance breaking such as the boiler. There’s an opportunity here to use this as an anchor for communications around retrofitting: a fresh start and chance to make your home more comfortable while you’re also experiencing something new.
Where events are particularly stressful, like a boiler breaking down, effective priming about the value of alternatives to gas boilers might encourage more people to do this rather than panic-buy a new boiler with a lower upfront cost. As mentioned above, one household felt the timing wasn’t right for having people in the home. For another who wasn’t eligible for Government funding, they went ahead with works as part of a larger kitchen renovation.
What’s next?
If you’re interested in discussing how Hubbub can support household engagement in energy efficiency, please contact gavin@hubbub.org.uk.