More energy-efficient homes in London

In trying to get my home to be more energy efficient I would like the advisor to go through the following steps in order.

1. Why is my house losing heat? I found that it was the little gaps but I didn’t have any efficient way to scan my house and find all these ‘weaknesses’.
2. What would be the best heating source for my house?
    
3. Given what I already have, what will be the most cost effective solution?
   
   We need unbiased opinions, so the organisation needs to have procedures in place to ensure that the advisors remain s.

Dear Emma & Isobel

I’m renting (social housing) so can only do little things on my own, like thermally lined curtains, draught tape, door brushes and so on. Keeping heat in is critical, but so is keeping water vapour (& black mould) out. Tenants need to know that air circulation is vital too. 
However, I’m in a housing coop and our Property Maintenance sub-committee welcomes participation and sharing of knowledge. I will share the advice you have kindly given in response to this survey with that committee (which I do not sit on, btw, just interested). 
Thanks especially for the email I got telling me about the Trustmark.

Best, Julia

Comment about the survey - some of the questions don't take good account of people who rent - for example, would you be interested in grants etc to install different heating is not relevant for tenants in the way it has been stated. I would have liked to be able to say it would be good if housing associations and councils had access to grants to do this. 

Found another link that might be of interest to people:

https://es.catapult.org.uk/news/electrification-of-heat-trial-finds-heat-pumps-suitable-for-all-housing-types/?fbclid=IwAR0suEmLVwzeRMIitDgC6kAqYa6veiXn41DXi45M3RrZPlEYMXuZiV3zYLM

However the statistics as they relate to older properties make for interesting reading. Of all the properties in the study, there were only 15 Semi detached built before 1919. In their conclusions they acknowledge the following:

"There were small shortfalls ... in the number of installations for properties built pre-1945 ... indicative of there being a greater challenge in successfully designing heat pump systems for older homes". 

And go on to say: "163 installs were successfully achieved in these older pre-1945 properties, clearly showing that such challenges are manageable."

So let me translate all this in to simple terms:

Installation in older properties is difficult, but can be done if you spend lots of money !!!!!

I work education estates sector, but despite some insider knowledge it has taken me quite a while for me to learn about PAS 2030 (via a follow-up call from an energy efficiency helpline I called) and then some more concerted searching to find this database of PAS qualified installers:-

https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowner/guided-search

This website was only found today, prompted by this consultation. This database is not well known and my local Council (Harrow) has done nothing, as far as I am aware, to provide guidance for private home owners on how they might go about retrofit. Their page on home improvements is limited to services only available to the disabled and those over 60.

I'd like to see a dedicated MfL website that collates all the options that are out there for tenants, landlords and homeowners.

Case studies are always useful and for landlords and homeowners, details of likely costs for different pieces of work and obviously links to accredited installer databases and up-to-date info on grants that might be available.

I'd love to see a case study for the retrofit of a 1930s Metroland semi & what about all the Victorian terraced house in London. Those two typologies alone must count for tens of thousands of properties.

I don't know if the MfL can direct or must resort to pursuation, but every London council website should have this information on it, or a link to a central resource maintained by MfL.

I'm a Canadian who has been living and renting in London for around 15 years. When I first arrived I was delighted by all the beautiful, historic architecture. I loved the Victorian row houses and 'chocolate box' villages of England. However I've now lived in several Victorian flats (either above shops, or in converted homes) and I am totally shocked at home much heat energy is wasted in winter with the single pane widows and natural draughts that circulate through most of these buildings. I dread to imagine what a heat imaging camera would record if flown over any city or town in England. Imagine seeing all the heat just billowing out of all of these poorly sealed/insulated homes and commercial buildings? 

I understand that many buildings are listed as being historically important and permits need to be got in order to add double, or triple pane windows. I think this has to change now. Owners and landlords need to be incentivised, or eventually made to replace single pane windows so the majority of heat is kept inside homes and buildings. I imagine this would have an absolutely monumental cost and environmental impact for the whole country. 

As much as I love the historic features of Victorian architecture (and earlier), our current energy bills are over £400/month for a 2-bed garden flat and it's crippling, not to mention always a bit cold and damp. This is absolutely unsustainable, both financially and environmentally, but we can't make any changes, as we don't own the flat and are tied into a long contract. 

In summary, England and London need to think about keeping the heat in homes as well as more sustainable heating options. 

I have filled out all the forms for eco-4, hoping to get help with room-in-roof insulation, as I have a mansard roof. None of the companies participating in eco-4 will do it. They are only interested in replacing boilers but they say mine is too efficient to merit replacement. They would do internal insulation of outside walls but I would not do this because it would ruin decorative plaster work and they won't repaint the new internal surface of the wall. I would like solar panels, but I live in a conservation area and they won't fund the ones that would be acceptable to the planners. I would really like double glazed units in my sash windows, but they will only do plastic windows which are horrible and would never get past the planners either, even if I did want them. I am disabled and on a low income, but that cuts no ice.

Some barriers I've witnessed second-hand: councils prioritise the aesthetics of older houses over the health of vulnerable residents. Funding for double and triple glazing is scarce and current/ recently completed funding schemes have made it virtually impossible for EPC G rated dwellings to get replacement windows as they are very expensive. 

Publicly, schemes deceptively advertise that households can be allocated up to £25,000 for home improvements, only to then insist that the average grant allocation be £10,000 per household. More transparency is needed.

The stipulation that landlords have to make a financial contribution to retrofits is deeply flawed, and shamefully leaves tenants' health at the mercy of landlords. While pity for landlords is definitely - and rightfully - in short supply, we would do a great service to the most vulnerable tenants if retrofit projects were fully funded, regardless of whether or not someone is an owner occupier or a private/ social housing tenant. It's incredibly naive to think most landlords will contribute 33% of retrofit costs.

All contractors used in retrofit grant schemes should be barred from subcontracting out labour -- this contributes to a culture of avoiding accountability and poor workmanship. Supporting contractors to bring highly trained tradesman in-house would greatly improve quality of work and health and safety.

It is not acceptable for installation teams to offer less than 10 years' warranty on works carried out. Lifetime warranty that is in place even in the event of the original contractor firm's liquidation should become more widespread.

GLA officials overseeing retrofit projects should be qualified and understand the retrofit industry - unqualified generalists can make a terrible mess of it all.

Many of the rented homes in London are old,  Victoria. As such more than one element of change ie: sola  panel system would be required to push them into a space that can be considered energy efficient. The cost of implementing the change is huge and would need to reflect the above prior to comitting to comunial heating, water pumps or any other energy efficient initiatives.

I would like to see someone - local government, energy supplier - offer thought-through solutions for blocks of privately-owned flats.  For us, heat-pumps are impractical, even proposing better insulation runs up against problems of cost and practicality, so district heat system would seem to be the way forward, but it needs some instituitonal body to propose, plan, design and install.  And so far, no one seems to be doing this work.

A lot of London holmes are pre-first world war with solid walls, such  as my Edwardian house.  Very expensive and disruptive to try to insulate these walls.  However, a great deal of heat loss comes from air leaks.  A much better first target would be to bring in comprehensive draft proofing.  Even sash windows can be draft-proofed at a moderate cost. 

Having recently had building work done, I've been incredibly disappointed by the quality of insulation on my extension - and with hindsight I should have paid far closer attention to the details of the insulation being installed and quality of work done. I fear there are many in the building trade who even know simply don't know how to effectively insulate homes. All building regs will do is check that insulation is in place - but won't check if there's gaps between the insulation and joists, won't check if there's thermal bridging, etc etc. 

The whole experience really puts me off doing any further work to our home. I really want to invest in energy efficiency measures in our home but I worry about the quality of workmanship, and I lack the time to hunt for skilled contractors, or properly learn the details of "what good looks like" so that I can QA work done effectively.  

Disappointed in survey that it didnt address some of the issues I have faced. For example I would have been interested in installing solar panels but my available  roof space faces the wrong way. SO not a option

I also was anti installing a heat pump not because  I dont want one but because my house does not have the insulation required for a heatpump and in my opinion is not capable of being brought up to that standard .

I also am annoyed that previous building regs are not mentioned. The insulation I put in my house has been seriously compromised by building regulations requiring air extractors to be fitted in bathrooms and these leak air and have nullified some of the insulation. We open windows when we have showers and baths and do not need extractors. Building regs need to be changed so that extractors are not mandatory when a family does not want them.

I think people need clear accessible information about the options( no green washing such as hydrogen boilers!!).. retrofitting should replace demolition/estate regeneration and there should be lots of green job opportunities to upskill the work force. I see little evidence that my local council really grasps the issue..and we should be boosting biodiversity and investing in nature based solutions to capture carbon like permaculture, more trees,green roofs and living walls…this is a climate emergency and thanks to murdoch too many people don’t think there is a problem. With the government subsidising the fossil fuel industry, and lobbyists taking over our universities no wonder people are confused. We need to educate people and legislate for a circular and sustainable economy