Home Retrofit in the North West of England

The Net Zero Hub supports Local Government and Social Landlords to scale up housing retrofit activities.

The Hub convenes organisations in the North West to share best practice, consider innovation in approaches and improve procurement of contractors.

Local Authority Delivery

The Hub administered the Local Authority Delivery Scheme Phase 2 (known as LAD2) in the North West.

• The Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy provided funding via the North West Net Zero Hub as part of a national economic stimulus package and covid recovery response, with the aim of saving householders money on fuel bills, reducing carbon emissions and creating green jobs.

• The national Local Authority Delivery Scheme 2 programme has finished delivery in September. £54million has been invested across the North West of England to provide over 5000 homes with new energy measure to make them warmer, more energy efficient, and more comfortable.

• Local Authorities across the region were able to target low income and vulnerable households which would benefit most from energy efficiency upgrades such as insulation, heat pumps, energy efficient doors and windows, and solar panels.
• Five local programmes operated across Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Liverpool City Region, all coordinated by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Local Energy Advice Demonstrators Competition

The Hub has been working with seven providers across the North West through the Local Energy Advice Demonstrators Competition. See Here for information on those projects.

New Home Energy Advice Service in Development

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is developing a Home Energy Advice Service for the public. This is to provide consumers with advice and information on the physical measures they can take to make their homes warmer, greener, and cheaper to heat.

Already, a comprehensive energy advice service via the GOV.UK website has been launched, and a retrofit phoneline service will be available later this year, which will offer consumers bespoke energy advice.

In-Person Advice Service Pilots

The final step in developing the Home Energy Advice Service will be the launch of innovative, local, in-person energy advice services across England. Each of these local services will be a pilot project to explore the effectiveness of different methods of in-person advice, and better understand the advice requirements of different consumer groups.

The pilot projects will offer a community-led approach that is targeted at hard-to-reach consumers and/or provides support for hard to-treat-properties, which would particularly benefit from in-person advice.