Delivering Warmer, Healthier and Net-Zero Homes: From Policy to Projects
In the latest of our Changeworks Connects events, we explored the challenges faced by local authorities and registered social landlords when balancing ambitious net zero goals with housing needs, financial constraints and other competing priorities.
The webinar, above, explored how a data-driven, place-based housing stock strategy can be used to embed decarbonisation and fuel poverty alleviation goals within the broader strategic vision for housing and community regeneration. It covered the approach Changeworks has piloted to:
- Develop adaptable roadmaps that respond to changing budgets, funding streams, and policy direction
- Build a strong long-term investment case, linking retrofit activity to wider development strategies
- Use housing-stock data to drive delivery across tenures and asset types
The event drew on the insights of our whitepaper, Delivering Warmer and Healthier Homes on the Road to Net Zero, sharing how housing-stock archetype analysis, project sequencing, funding alignment and place-based thinking can turn ambition into delivery.
We’ve summarised the Q&A discussion from the event below:
- Approach adaptability across landlords: The process used with Midlothian Council is also applicable to housing associations. Collaboration and workshops can be tailored to foster internal and cross-organisational engagement, as demonstrated in Changeworks’ project with three Scottish Borders registered social landlords.
- Procurement routes: Services are available through the Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA) framework, with flexibility to use other pathways such as Procurement for Housing or direct award routes.
- Strategic considerations of heating options: Our approach looks at all potential heating options, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses and interactions. For example, installing low-temperature ground source heat pump networks supports immediate decarbonisation but may limit future integration with larger heat networks due to long-term infrastructure investments. Planning should balance short-term carbon goals with long-term adaptability.
- Project timescales: Full projects typically take 6–9 months; archetype work usually requires 3–4 months or longer depending on the time of year and if properties are being monitored in the winter.
- Tenant support pre- and post-install: Support and guidance on heating systems and ventilation is essential and ongoing. Changeworks has developed the Tenant Energy Support service to support social tenants and has integrated this into ongoing projects and research.
- Monitoring and evaluation: Success is defined by achieving intended outcomes and demonstrating impact through robust data. Impact frameworks link objectives to measurable indicators and ensure evaluation goes beyond installation.
- Knowledge sharing: A webinar series is planned for early 2026 to share insights and learnings from different archetypes across projects.