On Wednesday March 18, the Retrofit Together event brought together regional retrofit one-stop shops Let Zero, Yorenergy and Net Zero Terraced Streets, along with local authorities, members of the retrofit supply chain, and other sustainability organisations from the area, to showcase the strength of retrofit in the area. The session was a fantastic opportunity to show how partners can work together to meet the challenge of conducting retrofit at scale.
At the event, Let Zero leads and partners gave an overview of the service’s progress so far — and the vision for the future. Dawn Witherley and Ella Hubbard from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University presented the foundational research into one stop-shop services, and the crucial work gathering landlord and tenant perspectives, which formed the basis of the Let Zero service design.
Pure Leapfrog Head of Energy Advice Becky Winter presented on the Let Zero service, starting with the InnovateUK-funded pilot phase of the project, which saw the testing and establishment of the service across South Yorkshire – the success of which led to the continuation of the service in partnership with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA). This was followed by an update on the continued work of the project, and how Let Zero continues to finesse its journey to deliver retrofit projects efficiently, while always being led by customers and real person-to-person relationships. The future of Let Zero will see continued refinement and strengthening of the customer experience, particularly through the development of a suite of digital tools to help streamline the customer journey and further scale the one-stop shop across the region.
Becky closed out the presentation with a quote from a Let Zero customer:
“Following the installation of the solid wall insulation the tenant has been so happy with how much warmer and more comfortable her house is, and has seen a noticeable reduction in her gas bills.
“From my perspective this is a win win – a happy safe tenant with lower heating
bills and for me a property with a much better EPC that makes it compliant with
future energy efficiency regulations.”
Lewis Sharman and Joanne Harrison gave a real-world example of how the Let Zero one-stop shop works in practice, explaining how they were able to apply learnings from the pilot phase of the project to housing in the Little London area of Rotherham.
Ceri Batchelder from SYMCA demonstrated how collaboration between local authorities and Let Zero can bring benefits to all across the region. One of these benefits has been to help build a strong local ecosystem in the retrofit sector, and we closed out this section of the day by hearing from many of these partners working in retrofit delivery and energy advice in the area.
The event also saw updates from other retrofit one-stop shops from across the north of England. YorEnergy explained how their service works in practice, supporting residents with impartial advice, technical expertise and step by step guidance. The Net Zero Terraced Streets project in Rossendale demonstrated how their place-based model is helping to deliver warm and healthy homes in the area. The respective local authorities for both of these projects reiterated points heard earlier in the day – that these services are helping to embed retrofit support into wider local climate and housing strategies.
The key thread running through the day was how building trust in retrofit services is central to their success. We can do this by using a place-based and people-centred approach where positive relationships with all participants are always top priority. When this is coupled with expert advice, and a simplified and streamlined customer journey, one-stop shop services can continue to deliver high-quality retrofit projects to the benefit of a wide variety of stakeholders, from tenants and landlords, to householders, retrofit suppliers and local authorities.
To start your Let Zero journey, register your interest or attend one of our drop-in advice sessions
