The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has launched two major retrofit schemes in the region, announced at its Greener Together Forum on 8 July 2022. Community engagement has begun in Elmdon, Solihull, and Foleshill in Coventry under the Sustainable Warmth Competition, while a consortium has started retrofit specification work for social housing1.
The social housing work follows a £7.5M award from the government's Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, secured by the WMCA's Energy Capital team as part of a consortium including Sandwell Council, Solihull Community Housing, City of Wolverhampton Council, Community Housing Group, Midland Heart, Orbit Housing Group and Wrekin Housing Group1. The funding will retrofit 600 social homes across the region, including low carbon heating systems and solar panels1. The Sustainable Warmth Competition programme launched in Elmdon and Foleshill following the award of £2.86m from funding secured by the WMCA from central government, as part of the £3M Sustainable Warmth Competition awarded earlier this year1. Residents in the two areas are being offered support to retrofit their homes with measures ranging from insulation to solar PV to low carbon heat pumps1.
The Forum also heard from Harriet and Chris Martin, a Bournville couple who carried out an extensive insulation programme on their 1930s-built home and installed solar PV panels and energy saving lighting1. They estimate the work is now saving them around £1,000 a year in fuel bills and has reduced their gas usage by 65% and electricity by 70%1.
Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said:
"Specifying the right solutions and building community support under these schemes is absolutely right, and I look forward to the installations getting underway in the Autumn."
The WMCA has set up the SMART Hub (Sustainable Market for Affordable Retrofit Technologies) as part of its investment to deliver its net zero targets1. The team has already led the region in attracting more than £10m of funding for retrofit projects and has supported partners in additional bids of more than £14m1. The work supports the region's ambition to achieve net zero by 20411.
Why it matters for households
The two schemes show how public funding is reaching individual homes in the West Midlands, both through social housing landlords and through direct engagement with owner-occupiers in Elmdon and Foleshill. For households in those areas, the Sustainable Warmth Competition offer covers measures that reduce how much energy a home needs in the first place, such as insulation, alongside low carbon heating and solar generation1. For social housing tenants in the 600 homes covered by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund work, the measures are being specified by landlords rather than chosen by residents1.
The Martins' figures give a sense of the scale of change possible in a 1930s semi: a 65% reduction in gas usage and 70% in electricity, with fuel bill savings estimated at around £1,000 a year1. Those outcomes came from an extensive insulation programme plus solar PV and energy saving lighting, carried out over a number of years1. The WMCA describes domestic buildings as some of the biggest energy users in the region1.
Households outside the two named areas are not covered by these schemes as reported. The WMCA states that its Energy Capital and SMART Hub teams are supporting retrofit delivery and bidding for further funding, but no additional areas or funding rounds have been announced1.
What happens next
Installations under the schemes are expected to get underway in the Autumn, according to Andy Street1. Community engagement in Elmdon and Foleshill is already under way1. The WMCA says its collaboration and capacity building is expected to attract further funding going forward, but no further schemes have been confirmed1.
For households considering retrofit routes, the site's grants and schemes hub sets out the main public funding streams, including the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and whether social housing can get Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants.