Incentivising retrofit in the PRS (360G-GSTC-GRA02419)

This funding aims to support National Retrofit Hub to conduct research on the barriers and opportunities to retrofitting Private Rented Sector (PRS) properties at scale. In Southwark and Lambeth, PRS represents 29% and 31% of households respectively, however the uptake of retrofit through private and public schemes remains stubbornly low. The hypothesis is that the lack of financial, social, or moral incentives has led to landlords failing to upgrade and improve the insulation, energy source and ventilation of their tenanted properties. The Foundation would like to understand these barriers in greater detail to make policy, funding and process recommendations to address this. In addition to this, the research also seeks to understand how tenants’ rights can be protected when landlords retrofit their properties.