With the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund allocations confirmed, Kensa’s Dr Stuart Gadsden looks back at the progress social housing has made in decarbonising properties, what lessons there are for private housing, and how treating retrofit as ‘infrastructure’ is key for the future.
Social housing is delivering one of the UK’s quiet climate success stories – reducing carbon emissions from homes while cutting energy bills and upgrading some of the country’s most challenging building stock.
As much of the private housing sector continues to debate the ‘how’ and ‘when’ of retrofit, usually settling on individual improvements here and there, social landlords have simply got on with it, embracing coordinated, building-wide approaches to energy efficiency and low-carbon heating. From high-rise flats to dispersed estates, the sector has taken on the complexity of decarbonising at scale and delivered tangible results.
These upgrades are improving energy performance and comfort for residents and helping to address fuel poverty. Today, nearly three-quarters of social housing in England is rated EPC A to C. While the EPC system has its flaws, it remains a useful marker of progress and a clear sign that strategic investment in insulation, heating, and ventilation is paying off.
How did this happen?
This progress hasn’t happened by chance. It’s the result of long-term planning, purpose-driven investment, and targeted government support. Previous funding schemes like the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and now the £1.29bn Warm Homes Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) have helped social landlords prepare, plan, and move beyond piecemeal upgrades to deliver coordinated, whole-building retrofit programmes.
By approaching energy upgrades and heat decarbonisation at scale, providers have delivered long-term performance upgrades, turning ageing housing stock into some of the country’s most efficient and comfortable retrofit homes.
Why social housing is getting it right
Planning and delivering upgrades at scale, whether for entire buildings or estates, reduces disruption, secures economies of scale, and delivers long-term improvements to both homes and assets.
In contrast, private homes are often upgraded one at a time, which limits impact and increases costs. Whole-building or estate-wide programmes deliver more consistent outcomes, improve comfort for more people, and reduce the overall installation cost per property.
Crucially, social housing has shown that treating retrofits like infrastructure, not just repairs, can accelerate heat decarbonisation and help meet net-zero goals without leaving anyone behind.
Real-world retrofit: lessons from the front line
Kensa has supported housing providers across the UK to deliver impactful heating upgrades using the networked ground source heat pump system. Designed to serve entire blocks of flats or entire estates efficiently, the system is now heating and lowering energy costs for thousands of social homes, including around 30 UK tower blocks.
Two recent projects show the difference integrating this kind of system into a whole-building retrofit can make:
At the Sutton Dwellings Estate in Chelsea, central London, Clarion Housing retrofitted 81 Edwardian-era flats across four blocks, placing networked ground source heat pumps at its heart. The challenge was to modernise a heritage site in a dense, urban setting. By designing the retrofit as a complete system, with heating and fabric working together, the project delivered modern, low-carbon homes that preserved the building’s historic character and improved energy performance.
In Thurrock, Essex, three 1960s tower blocks, containing 273 flats in total, had outdated night storage heaters replaced with networked heat pumps alongside insulation improvements. Many residents had faced eye-watering heating bills, but post-upgrade, these costs fell by as much as 66%. The retrofit resolved long-standing inefficiencies and provided a long-term, affordable heating solution that benefitted every resident.
These aren’t isolated improvements, they’re examples of what’s possible when heating and building upgrades are treated as a system, not as standalone fixes, and it’s something that the sector has been so good at doing.
The opportunity and the risk
There’s still a long way to go. Despite the sector’s commendable progress, thousands of homes still need upgrades. Funding and policy certainty will be essential to maintain momentum.
The WH:SHF will help transform many more social homes, including high-rise and other “complex to decarbonise” properties. But with no further funding rounds expected before 2028, many housing providers face uncertainty just when long-term planning is needed most.
For councils and housing associations with net zero plans and EPC targets, clarity on what comes next is critical, not just to hit targets but also to deliver long-term savings and ensure residents continue to benefit from warm,
efficient homes.
Scaling up across the UK
Social housing has shown how to decarbonise homes effectively, affordably, and at scale. If a similar whole-building, or even street-by-street, approach was applied to private housing, it would enable large-scale delivery of energy efficiency upgrades and clean heat initiatives, increase UK heat pump installations and deliver energy savings for millions of people.
Retrofit is central to the UK’s net zero strategy, and the lessons from social housing provide a practical roadmap for others to follow. To meet climate targets, cut energy bills, and improve building performance, there needs to be a shift from individual measures to long-term, building-wide solutions. Social housing is showing how it’s done, and now the rest of the housing sector needs to follow.
Dr Stuart Gadsden is Commercial Director at Kensa