Retrofit quality standards are ‘over the top’ for simple projects

Speaking at a panel on 9 September, Mr Yale said that for complex interventions such as solid wall insulation, “PAS is fantastic”.

However, he said: “If we’re just doing lofts and cavities and PV [photovoltaic solar panels], it’s a bit over the top.”

He said the standard includes “a lot of cost of compliance”, which he described as “a false economy” for simple upgrades.

He added that meeting PAS 2035 required “a lot of surveys, a lot of visits” to the homes, which could lead to “survey fatigue” for residents.

“Is there a middle ground?” he asked, suggesting that PAS 2035 might only be followed for certain measures.

Mr Yale also said that PAS 2035 was “subjective” and contractors and consultants interpret it differently. “It tells you what to do, but not necessarily how to do it,” he explained.

He also told delegates the demonstrator scheme for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which launched in 2020, was “probably too hard and too soon” and described the learning process as “painful”.

“We went from nothing straight into deep retrofit,” he added, which “scared everybody”.

Many social housing providers then switched to simpler interventions for the subsequent Wave 1 of the SHDF, such as loft and cavity wall insulation, he said.

Mr Yale described this approach as “let’s just get it to an EPC C” and put solar panels on the roof.

Also on the panel was Dr Martin Fletcher of Leeds Beckett University, who had monitored a retrofit project conducted by housing association WDH.

He said that 205 of the landlord’s 1930s homes had been fitted with insulation, resulting in an average carbon reduction of 33%.

He also observed “a big decrease” in maladaptive behaviours, meaning tenants were “actually using their heating”.

“In some cases [tenants’] bills went up because they were using heating they weren’t using before,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Peckham MP Miatta Fahnbulleh told delegates at the conference that the government will look to prioritise social housing as part of its £6.6bn retrofit agenda.