100k Fuel Poor Homes Retrofit Review
School of Architecture + Cities: Rosa Schiano-Phan and Filomena Russo
School of Applied Management, WBS: Maria Christina Georgiadou
MSc AED Vertically Integrated Project: Agostino Anselmo, Rayman Laurel, and Mathieu Arnoud Naccarato
Funded (£8,000) by Research England, Participatory and Policy Research Fund
Fuel Poverty & Home Retrofit Focus group
THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH project investigated the progress made by the London Mayoral Office in retrofitting fuel poor homes in London, as part of the pledge to the Just Transition campaign led by the NGO, Citizens UK.
The research, undertaken between May and July 2023, involved a desktop-based state-of-the-art review on fuel poor homes retrofit in London. An overview of existing theoretical frameworks around fuel poverty definitions, energy efficiency and retrofitting in residential buildings was conducted. The study included an analysis of relevant existing databases and published reports. Freedom of Information requests were sent to the 33 London Boroughs and the GLA to collect data on the number of retrofitted homes since 2021. The results of the desktop analysis and FoI data collection were tested at a workshop in July where focus groups of relevant stakeholders, including academics, politicians and GLA officers and Local Authorities, fed back on the findings of the review.
The research concluded that although an initial understanding of the Mayor’s commitment appeared to indicate an intention to upgrade a total of 100,000 fuel poor homes before the end of the current mandate, there was never a formal commitment to a binding number of residential units but instead a promise to continue working to achieve larger numbers together with the G15 housing association group. A final report is currently under peer review, and it documents the number of retrofits repor ted by LA and G15 to date.
