What needs to change to build more green homes?

Sharing failures

“The housing association sector is very innovative, especially when it comes to heating. However, we are piloting technology and not sharing the real failures. Other housing associations are probably piloting the same technology another tested a year ago, but they are unaware because we are too afraid to show failure, which is inevitable. Sharing ideas and learnings – positive and negative – throughout projects is invaluable.”
“The collaboration side of things is really important. There are some really great ideas and innovation out there and what we want to achieve will be much easier if we worked in collaboration.”

Skills shortages

“We are very lucky as we have retrofit coordinators in-house. However, labouring skills are in short supply and often it is the people on the ground who have had the least investment in PAS2035 training. There are very few subcontractors who have gone through the process under the new retrofit standard, which is causing delays on site. There needs to be increased investment of technical expertise and green skills.”

Needs before luxury

“Until we’ve satisfied housing need itself, green homes feel like a luxury comparatively speaking. If we were to turn a house into an A-rated property that might mean someone else has to spend another few months in temporary accommodation, which goes against what housing associations are trying to achieve. We don’t want to be spending lots of additional money on a new home when we still have people living in temporary accommodation when that additional money could be used to provide more homes.”

Raising rents

“Zero carbon isn’t necessarily cheaper – gas is, but it isn’t green – and we’ve got to bear that in mind. What would be the point in putting green measures in to bring fuel costs down but then putting rents up to pay for it? That’s defeating the point.”

Community impact

“Too much of the language used in association with net zero is technologically and economically focused, rather than on building a healthier lifestyle. We are all responsible for educating consumers – a big public sector communications campaign would be great because decarbonisation is the challenge of this generation, and we’ve all got a part to play.

“I spend my life trying to tell climate change stories. Too much is focused on why, rather than going into detail on the how and the impact. When you start getting authentic with people, you get buy in. Fundamentally, changing human behaviour is key – we can do all the tech innovation in the world, but it’s important consumers understand why they should change and are rewarded for making those choices.

“We have to look around – when the sun shines in the UK, it’s hotter. Australia and California were literally on fire last year. This is happening now. But how do you make that relevant to people’s lives? 2050 sounds like a long way away, but if we don’t make the decisions we need to now, we have no chance of even getting there. This isn’t a tomorrow problem – it’s a today problem. My generation has to look itself in the mirror and ask what we are going to leave behind.

“Nobody wins at this if we don’t all win. It isn’t a competition – we all need to come together. And we need to take that net zero lens through everything we do at government, local, organisational and personal level.

Right-sizing

“We are – and continue on the main – driven to own our own homes. In later life, we still might enter the market as a couple with access to a two-bedroomed home, but if a partner passes or moves into alternative accommodation through ill health, how do we encourage someone to downgrade from a two bed to a one bed to minimise mental health issues, while providing a home that remains attractive and has access to a range of services and frees-up existing housing stock? How do we incentivise that as UK plc? Flexibility is something the market should look more at.

“We talk a lot about first-time buyers and second steppers, but never last-time buyers. What’s their intent? Broadly, many can be asset rich but income poor, so how do we incentivise people to move out of an under-occupied house that has been their home for many years? We need to encourage people to have a better quality of life, which may aid in them living longer. We have really struggled at that top end – we haven’t nailed it – but we could save a lot of carbon by not having to build more houses as a default because we can free up what we’ve already got and improve that stock.”

Sharing insights

“Having transparency is really important, but for whatever reason, the sector seems to be working in silo when it comes to sharing the rich data across many ‘pilot projects’ concerning options for improving sustainability. We are very good at sharing successes but we should be better at sharing challenges and anecdotal insights and data even if things have failed to avoid others making similar mistakes – once that information comes about, we can all scoop it all up, providing a rich and powerful set of data and insights.”

A sympathetic approach

“The feeling you leave behind is as important as the work you’re carrying out. I don’t think we necessarily understand that as builders, however, so we definitely have reskilling to do as an industry. It’s more about the service and the feeling than a product, and that comes from being aware and sympathetic when you’re going into someone’s home. You never know what you’re going to encounter and you’ve got to be ready for that.”

Planning process

“I have always found there’s an issue in how far you can go down the planning process before being asked about the energy efficiency of a scheme. By that point, it has been designed and signed-off by the client. I feel that some of the principles of building regulations could be brought forward in the planning process, so that applicants and designers must take a property’s green credentials into consideration much earlier in the process.”

Freeing up stock

“There is still a stigma associated with later living as people get older. They think it’s about having carers and leaving their independence behind, but it’s more about community living and no longer having a responsibility for maintenance, so being able to live a more enjoyable life. We need to be able to show the benefit of that to encourage people to move onwards and free up that stock so we don’t need to build more homes.”

Funding drive

“Funding is the key through all of this, I believe. All points raised require a proper funding structure in place, such as requiring banks to offer incentivised green mortgage options or cash to help with retrofitting to drive the adoption of green homes. Why aren’t homeowners with better energy ratings getting preferential rates on their mortgage – why isn’t there a help to buy pot for energy efficient homes?”

Land acquisition

“I do feel like the stars are aligning, slowly. Consumer behaviour and government priority is shifting. Planners are probably our biggest blockers, along with needing a level playing field on land acquisition to start with. As housebuilders, it all comes down to competitiveness – if we are not all constructing to the same building regulations that will never be achieved.”

Behaviour shifts

“Education is going to happen and we will likely to be faced with human behaviour shift due to a winter of discontent. For example, I was upset when I found out the UK is the most nature-deprived country in the world – it made me stop and change my behaviours personally and professionally. That’s about education.”

Delivering to end users

“There is quite clearly a massive housing shortage, which needs to be sorted quickly. However, the planning system and lending institutions are not currently supporting the development that is needed.

“There is a huge opportunity ahead of us to make some significant changes to how housing is delivered. However, it will require fundamental changes to a number of processes including lending, planning and construction techniques. This will only happen if all of these stakeholders are pulling in the same direction.

“This is the importance of getting people around a table collaborating – we can talk about it as much as we want, but sharing the knowledge means we have more chances of delivering communities that people want to live in.

“Throughout everything, we need to consider what the end user actually wants and then we must deliver that to them as cost effectively as possible. At the end of the day, they’re the ones paying for the product, so we need to deliver housing that is not only functional and efficient, but also desirable and aspirational.”

Reassessing the ability to lend

“Funding is the biggest issue and I’m a banker. The banks have to reassess their ability to lend. If we can stretch that funding or structure it in a way that allows affordability, housing associations will be able to build their product. Overall, financial structures need shaking up. The energy strategy should be put into a different pot to the housing strategy as to not put pressure on housebuilders. Financing changes to the existing housing stock should be the first priority.”

Generating discussions

“The education piece is key here to propel the green agenda further, and collaboration within all facets of the sector is the golden thread that runs through everything. Events like these are instrumental, as is the thought leadership process, which provides real insight into the current challenges and generates discussions for possible solutions.”

Removing politics

“Politics should be taken out of planning. Politics is focused on the short-term and there is naturally a lot of self-interest. But we need to look at the long term, which is about providing more homes. Affordable housing need is part of that and it is worsening, but we are not creating enough.”

We are working closely with lenders to evaluate the areas of enhanced performance that will lead to improved value.
A lot of focus is placed on the EPC, which is generated from the SAP compliance tool and could be developed to give a more enhanced view of a homes performance.

Shifting the focus

“From a consumer point of view, there needs to be more honesty surrounding how a green home won’t save money in the short-term – we should shift the focus to the impact on the next generation, for example, educating people on the long-term benefits.”

Removing the bottleneck

“In order to increase adoption, the planning process needs to be sped-up as it causes such as bottleneck. Adoption could be a lot quicker if the process wasn’t so arduous.”

Top down approach

“There needs to be more financial support for developers so they don’t have to pass on additional costs to consumers. This would also help create a more level playing field and the financial incentives housebuilders need to make the additional costs viable. What’s also important is that government creates uniform building regulations with a push top down for drastic change.”

Dealing with consumers

“There is a lot that goes along with a green home. There is new technology that can be included, like air source heat pumps, photovoltaic cells and mechanical ventilation heat recovery units. These are not things people are used to dealing with or understanding how their own use of the homes and behaviour impacts on the technology. There’s a huge education piece that needs to go along with running a green home. We make a lot of mistakes by assuming we’re dealing with architects and engineers, instead of the general public.”

Barriers to buying

“The banks need to become a part of the solution and create an opportunity for sustainable homes. The majority of first and second-time buyers need mortgages in order to purchase a property, and banks should recognise that sustainable homes will have lower bills, which means they can afford a slightly higher mortgage. If banks fail to do this, first-time buyers may not have the extra money required to pay for a high-performing green home.”

Changing behaviours

“Dick Fosbury in the 1968 Olympics famously used a brand-new technique when high jumping and swooped gold and records. However, at the next Olympics four years later, only the youngest in the sport followed his lead. There was so much muscle memory and ‘experience’ made to doing things by the older competitors that they couldn’t change their technique, even in the face of undeniable odds there was a better way.

“There has to be something catastrophic that causes us to change our thinking. This winter, consumers will be astonished by how much their bills are – it will present real challenges. Huge energy prices will be painful for so many people, which will drive change.”

Huge outlays

“There almost seems to be a lack of wanting to dip your toe in the water. We might have to retrofit some of the properties we’re doing now, and again in 2050 as technological advancements occur, and that’s a huge outlay for charitable organisations. That’s just in our sector and we have government funding to help – if you look at private rented accommodation or homeowners, that’s a huge financial commitment they are unlikely to see a return on.”

Resilience to adaptation

“We need clear messaging and a climate emergency that is happening now – not in 2050 – needs to be declared. Going back to Covid-19, we adapted because we were forced to in a very quick manner. It showed how, as the human race, we are very resilient and can take on any challenge thrown at us. However, for some reason, there’s an element of holding back.

“I don’t want my son to be dealing with this in 10 or 15 years because his mum didn’t step up to the plate at a critical time.”