Social housing providers are under pressure to bring properties up to EPC ‘C’rating by 2030. Gary Doxey at windows manufacturer Eurocell warns that the challenge extends beyond this, to countering short-termism, based on a recent Housing Management & Maintenance study.
It’s well-known that the UK is home to some of the oldest social housing stock in Europe. Construction of new properties has been painfully slow in recent years, with just 2,260 built in 2024/25. Tight budgets and lack of skilled local labour are largely to blame – factors that also make it difficult to retrofit existing properties to meet new energy-efficiency standards, particularly those built in the post-war era.
As mandatory deadlines get closer, social housing providers may understandably feel that they have no choice but to choose the most cost- effective option that ticks a box in the short-term.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Earlier this year, the Housing Committee warned that while most social housing tenants have ‘warm, safe and decent places to live’, just under 430,000 properties don’t meet the Decent Homes Standard. Poor insulation, damp and mould are common problems, and little progress has been made on improving conditions
since the pandemic. The new Standard doesn’t come into force until 2035, but social and private landlords must meet the minimum energy efficiency standard (EPC Band C or equivalent) by 2030. It’s a tight deadline, and while the phased compliance deadline to 2039 provides some breathing room, the scale of the challenge is enormous. As many as one in four social homes (around 1.1 million properties) will need work, and the costs will run into billions of pounds.
AVOIDING THE STICKING PLASTER APPROACH
Compliance, budgetary constraints, and political short-termism can make for a toxic mix – at odds with the long-term thinking needed to deliver homes that are sustainable in every sense of the word.
While there are low-cost initiatives that can reduce carbon emissions, like better insulation, bigger projects such as installing heat pumps, solar panels, and windows and doors, are generally more expensive. So, it’s not surprising that providers often want to minimise these as much as possible. The problem is that lower price doesn’t always deliver on performance, increasing the likelihood of replacements being needed further down the line.
This was evident in a report, ‘Holistic Approaches to Low Carbon Retrofit at Scale,’ published in Housing Management & Maintenance in March 2026. The report found that when it comes to windows, professionals in both the non-profit and private sectors are primarily driven by meeting the minimum requirements. Even their attitude to energy efficiency is lukewarm given how critical this is to compliance, as well as reducing damp/mould and fuel poverty.
Around 38% said they were balancing compliance with ‘some’ energy efficiency improvements, while 29% said their objective was only to meet the minimum Building Regulations. Further down the list, just 13% said they wanted to install the ‘highest-performing future-standard windows’ no matter what the requirements are.
Less than half of respondents (45%) said they were undertaking a whole house deep retrofit – a holistic approach that encompasses everything from heat pumps and solar panels to triple-glazing and improving airtightness in buildings. Around 62% said there were ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ challenges associated with this approach, and the biggest barrier, cited by 57% of respondents, is funding.
Of course, socially responsible landlords want homes to be kitted out in a way that not only helps them to stay compliant but also improves tenants’ quality of life and makes a positive contribution to net-zero targets. But the survey again highlighted cost as the biggest barrier to retrofitting, followed by the age of housing stock, and lack of skilled trades.
While cost is a real concern, I believe we need to shift the focus to value for money. Responsibility doesn’t fall to social housing providers alone. Both the Government and industry have a part to play: the former via funding, support and realistic deadlines, and the latter through partnerships and innovative solutions that measurably improve performance and, importantly, can be scaled.
BATCHING FOR SUCCESS
When you look at the UK’s largest providers, such as Clarion Housing Group with roughly 125,000 homes, or Peabody with over 100,000, the prospect of an immediate deep retrofit across a large portfolio is financially daunting to say the least. When providers are faced with this significant cost, it’s easy to focus on the short-term.
To counter this, the sector needs to move away from an all-or-nothing mindset and start breaking down these vast portfolios. By identifying specific ‘batches’ of homes where high-performing, future proofed windows are most viable right now, providers can make meaningful progress while reducing the long-term overall cost burden.
It is far better to strategically invest in top-tier, 2050-ready specifications for at least a targeted batch of properties today than to apply a cheap, sticking plaster fix across the board that guarantees a second wave of replacements tomorrow.
BEYOND COMPLIANCE
At an industry level, we’re already seeing how strategic partnerships can deliver decarbonisation retrofits at scale.
We’ve previously worked with illbruck, part of Tremco CPG, and Saint- Gobain on a project for Cambridge City Council for the retrofit of 46 homes. Taking a sustainability-led approach to specification, we were able to deliver a closed-loop, high-performance solution that should mean the authority is able to meet future requirements, as well as current ones.
Although modern window systems can significantly improve EPC ratings, gaps between the frame and the facade will lead to heat loss and make it difficult to reach the required standard.
Partnering with illbruck allowed us to test the windows for air tightness, thermal efficiency and rain resistance at its specialist facility in Bavaria. Saint-Gobain helped to close the loop, with glass being recycled as part of the company’s Glass Forever programme, while we took the old PVCu frames to be recycled and remanufactured into new profiles at Eurocell Recycle.
It’s not just upfront product and installation costs that stand in the way of retrofits – there can be other risks and compliance issues too.
During construction, high-performance products may be replaced with ones that don’t meet the required spec (creating a ‘specification gap’), which means properties don’t deliver on energy performance. This is where industry once again has an important role to play. A ‘specification to installation’ model like SureSpec for windows and doors can reduce the drift between design and delivery, ensuring what is designed is fitted, so buildings comply with the standards required.
‘TENANT BLOCKING’
There’s another reason for avoiding short-termism in retrofitting. The Holistic Approaches to Low Carbon Retrofit at Scale report found that tenants blocking improvements has risen to number five out of 11 factors, up from eighth place two years ago. In 2023, it ranked lowest on the list.
Even with the prospect of lower energy bills and a more comfortable home, tenants are concerned about disruption. There’s clearly work to be done in
how these improvements are communicated – indeed, 37% of social housing professionals said that tenants can be confused by the term ‘retrofit,’ while 22% believe it’s ‘somewhat problematic’. The mantra ‘do it once, do it right’ is critical here – people are more likely to get on board with improvements if they last for decades and the benefits are clearly communicated.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For too long, the UK has had a cultural habit of kicking the can down the road when it comes to infrastructure and housing. We patch things up to satisfy the immediate regulatory cycle, only to pay double when the sticking plaster inevitably peels off. With the 2050 net-zero targets looming, we are running out of road.
So, the message for social landlords is clear – specify for windows and other assets beyond the 2030 deadline, otherwise they risk having to make further retrofits again before 2050.
Short-term piecemeal upgrades are counterproductive if they result in energy performance issues that compromise compliance and need further improvements. Tenant satisfaction will suffer due to higher energy bills and the prospect of further upheaval.
As we’ve seen, the sector isn’t on its own. Innovations and partnerships within industry, coupled with government funding, can make comprehensive retrofits both achievable, and scalable.
Gary Doxey is commercial manager at Eurocell