Delivering energy-efficient housing: Key takeaways from our decarbonisation roundtable

On 3 June 2025, we brought together senior leaders from across the housing, energy, finance, and legal sectors to discuss one of the most pressing challenges facing the UK housing market today: how to deliver practical, scalable decarbonisation.

The discussion landed at a pivotal moment. Just last week, the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined her first major spending review, reaffirming the government’s focus on economic growth and infrastructure. Meanwhile, next week is expected to bring a formal announcement on the Future Homes Standard, mandating new energy performance requirements for homes built from 2025 onwards in England. The housing sector stands squarely at the intersection of these ambitions.

Entitled “Making an Impact on Your Decarbonisation Strategy”, the roundtable set out to move the conversation beyond policy ambition and toward real-world action. With participants from housing associations, developers, financial institutions, and energy innovators, the session was grounded in shared experience and a clear desire to learn from what’s already working.

In this blog, we explore the key themes from the discussion, highlight practical solutions already being delivered across the sector, and share our reflections on the next steps needed to accelerate progress.

The urgency of now

The UK’s housing stock accounts for roughly 20% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, housing providers face rising expectations from residents, growing regulatory pressure, and the challenge of delivering new homes that are affordable, efficient, and futureproof.

The Future Homes Standard in England and net zero targets from the Welsh Government are sharpening the focus, but many in the sector feel caught between ambition and implementation.

Emma Fletcher, Low Carbon Director at Octopus Energy said:

“We’re all working hard and innovating in parallel, imagine how far we could go if we started building on each other’s progress.”

That spirit of collaboration ran through the discussion, underlining that decarbonisation is no longer a siloed technical issue. It’s a strategic priority that demands coordinated thinking across design, funding, regulation, construction, and resident engagement.

What’s working in practice

Rather than focusing on theory or future ambition, the roundtable focused on initiatives already delivering measurable outcomes, both in new-build and retrofit.

One example came from United Welsh Housing Association’s partnership with Octopus Energy to deliver “Zero Bills” homes. These properties integrate solar PV, heat pumps, and battery storage to provide residents with no energy bills for a fixed period.

Victoria Bolton, Director of Development and Regeneration at United Welsh, explained:

“Zero bills for our customers, what a great thing to have, what a great thing to be able to offer.”

This approach is already being scaled in Wales, with similar innovation also taking place through the IHP (Innovative Housing Programme), led by providers like POBL Group.

Yet, the message was clear: successful projects aren’t just about the right technology—they require partnerships, tenant buy-in, and upfront financial support.

The biggest barriers, and how to overcome them

Participants highlighted several consistent obstacles, for which the roundtable provided insight:

• Regulatory inconsistency: WDQR guidance is applied differently across regions, slowing progress.
• Cost and funding limitations: New models are needed that reflect long-term returns and quantify social/environmental value.
• Skills and supply chain gaps: Early contractor involvement and standardised training pathways can help.
• Usability of technologies: Overengineered homes confuse residents—support and simplicity are essential.
• Lack of shared learning: Cross-sector collaboration is critical to scale what works and avoid duplication of effort.

Yet the discussion also surfaced tangible ways to tackle these issues. From early contractor engagement and improved data-sharing platforms to clearer planning guidance and long-term funding mechanisms, the sector is beginning to coalesce around what’s needed to deliver at scale.

What does this mean for the housing sector?

The roundtable reinforced that success lies not in any one innovation, but in creating an environment where effective models can be shared, funded, and repeated.

From a legal perspective, this means supporting clients not just with contracts and compliance, but with partnership facilitation, funding strategy, and regulatory navigation.

It also means listening to residents.

Emma Fletcher of Octopus Energy said:

“Don’t overengineer. People just want homes that are warm, easy to control and manage, and cheap to run.”

Whether it’s through resident energy champions, co-design workshops, or simple, transparent communication, tenant engagement must be built into delivery from the outset.

Key recommendations

Following the event, we produced a white paper summarising the discussion and offering practical recommendations for key stakeholder groups, including:

• Policymakers: Develop clearer, standardised guidance for planning and retrofit. Introduce innovation grants and a national retrofit strategy to drive consistency and reduce regulatory risk.

• Funders: Create standardised risk models for retrofit investment. Support pilots that offer measurable returns and build confidence in long-term payback. Lobby change in RICS red book valuations for energy efficient homes.

• Skills and supply chain stakeholders: Partner with colleges and local authorities to grow the green workforce. Engage early to de-risk procurement and improve project quality.

• Housing providers: Embed tenant engagement throughout the process. Plan for performance over time, not just handover, and prioritise simplicity in design.

These aren’t just ideas, they’re tangible actions that can accelerate decarbonisation while improving housing outcomes. Read the decarbonisation strategy whitepaper.

Conclusion

This roundtable showed that the housing sector has no shortage of good ideas or promising pilots. But to deliver lasting change, those ideas must be aligned, funded, and shared.

Caroline O’Flaherty, Partner and Head of Social Housing, reflected:

“It was a privilege to bring together so many different voices at our roundtable. If we want to deliver low-cost, energy-efficient homes at scale, we need to share knowledge, simplify regulation, and invest in the skills to deliver.”

Energy-efficient technologies are evolving fast, and costs will continue to fall. But in the meantime, there must be a clearer return on investment for landlords and developers, supported by smarter valuation models and incentivised energy tariffs. Just as importantly, homes need to be designed around the end user, simple, intuitive, and clearly beneficial for residents.

There is no single solution. Fabric-first approaches, technology, funding strategy, and resident engagement all have critical roles to play. The collective insight from the roundtable showed that by working together, across disciplines, geographies, and sectors, we can move faster and more confidently toward net zero.

We are proud to support housing providers, funders, and innovators as they navigate the legal and strategic frameworks needed to make decarbonisation a reality.