Housing retrofit is a complicated and risk-laden challenge, and it is one of the many actions required to achieve Net Zero carbon targets in each locality.

Meanwhile, Net Zero is just one priority of the many social economic and environmental priorities each council faces. Yet we know that without concerted public sector intervention to address domestic energy efficiency, legally-binding national and local Net Zero targets will be missed.

As of March 2023, over 75% of local and combined authorities in England have declared a Climate Emergency and of these, over 60% (190 local authorities) have declared a Net Zero carbon emissions target date of 2030 or sooner. Many of these targets address all carbon emissions within a local authority area, not just from each local authority’s buildings and services. As the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) makes clear, the UK’s sixth Carbon Budget can only be achieved if government, regional agencies, and local authorities work seamlessly together.

According to the CCC, local authorities have power or influence over approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions in their geographic areas; the challenge for them is that their sphere of direct influence is limited to their own buildings, services, and contracts. Controlling carbon emissions from existing homes will be a particular challenge; domestic properties account for 30% of energy use and around 19% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, yet less than 7% of homes are owned by local authorities and over 80% are privately owned by either owner occupiers or private landlords.

A 2021 parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee Report identified that over 10 million owner-occupied homes and over three million private rented homes in England will need upgrading to a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C rating by 2035 to hit government targets. Many of these 13 million owners are unaware that their involvement is needed and will need financial support and advice to upgrade and retrofit their homes.

This challenge for local authorities, at a time of unprecedented financial and staffing pressures, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis, is significant.

No two local authorities have the same levels of experience and knowledge in relation to domestic retrofit, and most, but not all, have limited staffing capacity. Whilst the Domestic Retrofit Handbook is targeted at local authorities at the beginning of their domestic retrofit journey, it should prove useful to all local authorities in that it signposts good practice across various steps in the retrofit process.

Our work was informed by interviews with a range of stakeholders and influencers, including:

• city based combined authorities;
• smaller local authorities in rural areas;
• regional agencies such as Local Energy Hubs;
• industry champions and training providers.

75 English local authorities (over 20%) also responded to a survey in 2021, which has helped shape the contents of this handbook. 71% of the local authorities that responded to our survey have prioritised retrofit as an action for achieving Net Zero targets but are not clear how best to intervene and/or lack the resources to develop a planned approach.