To keep up with the current demand for housing, 340,000 new homes need to be built every year – and that’s just in England. While delivering new housing is necessary, we should not overlook the importance of improving the quality of our existing stock, argues National Housing Group founder and CEO Stephen Wasserman
New-builds can be great: they’re convenient, can be built en masse and built for purpose. But all this construction can be really damaging to air and water quality. It also contributes to noise pollution and takes a long time.
Today, we also have the additional worries of the cost-of-living crisis, a continually growing homeless population, and a housing crisis to contend with, so vulnerable people need high-quality homes and they need them quickly. But new-builds aren’t the only solution.
At National Housing Group (NHG), our entire property portfolio has been curated by repurposing existing buildings to provide quality and purpose-built homes for local authorities, charities and housing associations. Retrofitting is a great way to make use of existing property stock, have a lesser impact on the planet, and provide homes for those in need, faster.
Maximise what we’ve already got
At the end of 2022, there were almost 650,000 empty homes in England according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and it’s likely that number has risen since then. The term ‘empty homes’ doesn’t take into account second homes, other empty houses or commercial or mixed use freeholds, which means the real number is going to be much higher than first thought.
By transforming disused properties, we have been able to positively impact neighbourhoods and provide homes for those in need in their local areas. When you consider that a disused property could be anything from a two-bed apartment to an abandoned care home or office block, you really start to open up the opportunities and see that real change can happen fast and where it’s needed.
We’ve started work on a derelict care home in Aylesbury which had been empty for more than five years. Through retrofitting this property, we are going to be able to provide housing for more than 40 people, enhance the local area and contribute to the push for net zero with a number of eco features which will also provide cheaper living and hopefully a better quality of life for residents as we’ve seen across our other properties.
Retrofitting to net zero
The National Housing Federation has told us all that ‘England’s homes produce more carbon emissions every year than is produced by all of the country’s cars’. That’s 58.5m tonnes of CO2 emitted just from houses each year.
The common culprits are gas central heating and poor insulation, so these are always the first on our agenda when upgrading properties. We can proudly say that all of our properties are rated EPC C or above and that’s the plan of attack from here on out.
Without social housing providers contributing to decarbonising homes, it’s highly unlikely that the government’s ambitious target of net zero by 2050 will be achieved and environmental change will continue at the alarming rate we’re already witnessing.
At NHG, we’ve started as we mean to go on by retrofitting with green living in mind. In the last year, we’ve fitted more than 100 solar panels, 100 electric Ecostrad radiators, replaced 50 panes of double glazing, laid 1,000 metres of underfloor heating, and rolled out 3,000 metres of insulation.
Green living and quality of life
At one of our properties in Essex – another converted care home which houses 25 vulnerable adults – we’ve retrofitted the entire property with a cheaper cost of living in mind for our residents. Combined, we’ve estimated that the eco-friendly features (including 50 solar panels) will save tenants more than £500 on their bills every year. This frees up cash otherwise spent on bills, giving them a better chance at regaining independence once they’ve received the care and support they need in our property.
We’ve seen residents spend money on gym memberships, healthy food and public transport, which better connects them with family. All of these things might have been a far reach for a person spending much more on keeping warm or cooking.
“At the end of 2022, there were almost 650,000 empty homes in England – it’s likely that number has risen since then”
The solar panels on this Essex property generate more electricity than the residents use. The panels convert at 15 kWh per hour and, on a bright day, can produce up to 80 kWh per day. A three-bedroom house uses an average of 10 kWh per day. All this excess energy results in money saved for residents and energy being supplied back to the grid, which means good things for our residents. It also diminishes our reliance on fossil fuels as a community.
At NHG, we’ve launched something called the ‘greens homes initiative.’ We want to positively impact every person that we house, not just by putting a roof over their heads, but also by reducing fuel poverty and our general need for fossil fuels across the country.
We’ve seen great results and savings so far. We work closely with our solar panel provider, which has seen residents paying as little as 50p per day for their electricity as a result of cost savings from solar panels – a great figure which shows the financial advantages of green living for all of us, not just those in social housing.
Then and now
Since 2020, when NHG was founded, we’ve housed more than 150 people through our partnerships across the UK. Our homes have all been built surpassing the industry requirements (and standards), with high-quality finishes while also providing realistic business margins.
We’re looking forward now to housing our next 150 people and are currently on the lookout for more properties to retrofit so we can provide much needed homes for those without appropriate accommodation or who are currently homeless.
We’ll continue to develop homes with the environment in mind as we’ve seen first hand the benefits this has on our residents and the planet and it’s nice to know we’re doing our part. Our eco ‘shopping list’ is much longer than the list mentioned earlier – but from a cost perspective it hasn’t been realistic to install every single application we have available to us, which is why we’ve focused on cost effective staples which positively influence both people and planet.
We’re pleased to see the government has listened to the industry’s pleas for financial backing by awarding £1.8bn to boost efficiency and cut emissions of homes and buildings across England. This will enable social housing providers to go further, faster, when it comes to improving the state of properties around the country and implement much-needed, eco-friendly changes.
We’re looking forward to seeing developments across the sector over the next few years and will continue to maximise existing stock around the country as we build a future that’s better for everyone.
Image: National Housing Group founder and CEO Stephen Wasserman
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