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80% of houses that will exist in 2050 have already been built but, with the oldest building stock in the world, England’s homes are not currently fit for a safe, healthy and comfortable future. HCCSP is working to help increase the speed that we all take action to meet our health, wellbeing and sustainability ambitions

Over 60% of domestic homes in Hertfordshire are classed as yellow (EPC D or below) and more than 60,000 homes are living in fuel poverty. Improving buildings improves quality of life, can reduce energy bills and can even increase the value of the property.

Hertfordshire is proud to be the first pilot location for the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator project, funded by the MCS Foundation. This project held three workshops with key stakeholders from across the retrofit system between October and January 2024/25.

As a result of these workshops, a Retrofit Strategy is being developed to capture, support and progress all elements of building retrofit currently progressing across the county, to include and reference work currently underway across public and private, commercial and domestic buildings, skills and trades, supply and demand. 

Workshop reports can be viewed for Workshop 1 - Oct 2024 (PDF 1.62MB), Workshop 2 - Nov 2024 (PDF 249KB) and Workshop 3 - Jan 2025 (PDF 288MB)

Please contact us if you require these documents in a different format.

 

Advice for homeowners

Following feedback from homeowners, HCCSP has produced a guide to help residents consider their options and start their retrofit journey.  

HCCSP Retrofitting your house guide

PDF files may not be accessible to assistive technologies.
Please contact us if you require this document in a different format.

Find out how to make your home warmer and cheaper to run and maybe even increase its value.  

  • Quick Wins: Low and no-cost tips for every part of your home.
  • Big Changes: Demystifying heat pumps and generating your own energy.
  • Tailored Options: Detailed suggestions for the most typical property types in Hertfordshire.
  • Next Steps: How to find trustworthy contractors and sources of funding.

The guide includes reference to heritage and conservation buildings as well as tenants and leaseholders. We are looking at avenues to support these and other ‘harder to treat’ properties. The guide contains a range of non-invasive measures while residents consider their options.

Hertfordshire residents in any type of home can also contact the Better Housing Better Health helpline for impartial expert advice to help improve the energy efficiency of their home, save money and improve comfort, including sources of funding.

There are also many credible sources of information, guidance and recommendations in the public domain. 

You said, we did

We asked homeowners:

HCCSP has explored the barriers home-owners face to retrofitting their home to make them more energy efficient. Whilst this is an area over which the Council has limited leverage, research indicates that residents are concerned about their fuel bills, the warmth and comfort of their homes and about the climate emergency. The aim of the project was to explore the principal barriers to retrofitting privately owned housing in Hertfordshire and consider potential options for overcoming these.

Homeowners said

HCCSP shared a survey for Hertfordshire homeowners between 19 Jan to 11 February 2024 and received 1,267 responses from domestic homeowners. This research confirmed that there is a market for retrofit in Hertfordshire, but many residents don’t know where to start, who to trust, or how to coordinate work. Download the full Retrofit & Behaviour Change Survey Results report (PDF 147KB).

We did

The evidence gathered from this survey will feed into the Retrofit Strategy which will facilitate retrofitting housing in Hertfordshire in response to both the climate emergency and cost of living crisis. The evidence also accelerated production of the above guide to help residents begin their retrofit journey. 

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