Delivering warmer, affordable homes in every UK community
Warm, energy-efficient homes are vital to tackling fuel poverty and the cost of living crisis. Delivering them across the UK will create better health, jobs and economic growth, as well as lowering carbon emissions.
Ashden works closely with retrofit innovators, whose proven solutions are already generating these benefits. But these pioneers can’t accelerate their work without more ambitious national policies. Policies that tackle workforce shortages, deliver consistent funding at the scale needed, and enable tailored local approaches. Action will benefit households across the UK – particularly the 8.99 million households in the UK that spend more than 10% of their income on domestic energy, according to charity National EnergyAction.
In the short term, it’s vital that in 2025 the UK Government sees through its manifesto commitment of £13.2billion to deliver the Warm Homes Plan. But further support will be needed, particularly for people and communities at greatest risk. National Energy Action estimates that £18bn is needed purely to meet energy efficiency targets for vulnerable households.
Routes to retrofit: our three policy calls, and how they can be achieved
Accelerate retrofit to eliminate fuel poverty by 2030, and guarantee warm, energy-efficient homes for all by 2035
- Secure the Labour Party manifesto commitment £13.2bn in the 2025 Spending Review for DESNZ’s Warm Homes Plan and take action to improve delivery confidence
- Close the £18bn fuel poverty funding gap and set interim milestone targets for reduction in fuel poor households, with clear accountability.
- Establish multi-year funding programmes that combine existing retrofit funding schemes – ECO, Warm Homes schemes and The Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
- Introduce a suite of financial incentives, such as an energy saving stamp duty incentive, to encourage retrofit at key points, like when homes are bought or sold. Complement these with low-interest loans or green mortgages for homeowners.
Boost locally-driven approaches, to deliver one million home retrofits a year by 2030
- Establish a funding and delivery framework that empowers local authorities and delivery partners. Guarantee it will last for at least three years, so councils and can partners can plan strategically, invest in capacity building, and develop skills and supply chains.
- Devolve powers to local authorities and local communities, so they can manage funds and co-develop retrofit programmes that reflect local priorities.
- Create a comprehensive national database of property data, including energy performance, building characteristics, and eligibility levels. Combine this with greater support for Local Area Energy Plans, leading to more efficient and precisely targeted retrofit measures, weighted to areas where they will have the greatest impact.
Create 200,000 good retrofit jobs across the UK by 2030
- Create a comprehensive Retrofit Workforce Plan, with commitment to train 200,000 new retrofitters by 2030.
- Integrate retrofit skills into standard construction training and apprenticeships.
- Create a new, long-term Green Skills Fund, that fully or partly subsidises training in key roles.
- Use government-funded retrofit programmes to drive local skill development – by ensuring they have clear targets for local training or employment, alongside other social value targets.
Proven solutions: retrofit innovators we’ve supported
Stockport’s B4Box use an inclusive approach to grow the retrofit workforce in North West England, upgrading homes while delivering paid training and routes to employment.
tepeo’s Zero Emission Boiler is a made-in-the-UK solution, greening domestic heating – which accounts for more than 10% of our carbon emissions.
Kensa’s innovative ground source heat pumps and shared ground loop arrays deliver efficient and affordable heating, tackling a major source of carbon emissions and reducing fuel poverty.
Manchester’s Carbon Co-op has trained builders to deliver home energy efficiency upgrades, tackling a major skills shortage.
Energise Barnsley is lowering bills for older people in social housing, using the power of solar energy
How else are we accelerating retrofit?
- We’ve brought our insights and call for retrofit action to Parliament, with an event at the House of Commons.
- Our report on Works and Training Organisations examines one potential solution to skills shortages.
- We’re playing a key role in the Local Authority Retrofit Accelerator – a pilot scheme to increase and build supply chains in four areas.
- Ashden is a partner of the National Retrofit Hub – Director of UK Programmes Donal Brown and Cities Manager Cara Jenkinson lead or co-lead two of its working groups.
- Our resources and insights for councils help them take action on retrofit, and other important climate challenges.