Futures Housing – SHDF Wave 2.1

Multiple Sites, East Midlands  

Project Value: £6.35m

Introduction

Based in Castle Donnington, Futures Housing Group is a not-for-profit social landlord that provides homes to rent and buy throughout the East Midlands region. It supports a number of the region’s councils by building, maintaining and letting out affordable properties.

The first phase of this scheme began in 2023 when Futures Housing decided to commission a multi-measure decarbonisation retrofit scheme featuring 160 low-rise homes. These were spread over a large area, in the north and south of the region, so the work demanded careful management of labour, logistics, community liaison and other related issues.

The purpose of the project was to improve the energy efficiency of the various homes, raising their EPC ratings from either band D or E to band C or better.

That first phase of the scheme was procured through Efficiency East Midlands and was valued at around £2.5 million. It drew upon SHDF Wave 1 funding and therefore had to be delivered by a Trustmark registered contactor in accordance with the demands of the PAS standards.

SBS is registered with Trustmark and has a long-standing record of completing successful schemes procured through the Efficiency East Midlands consortium. We have also delivered some of the country’s largest and most challenging SHDF-funded retrofit projects.

On the strength of our success on the Wave 1-funded works, the client subsequently extended phase 1 and awarded us a second phase via direct call-off. It would be funded by SHDF Wave 2. Valued at around £6.3 million, this increased the project’s scope by a total of 216 properties.

The Project

It was clear that the second phase would present a number of challenges. One related to the broad geographical spread of sites. Works would have to be carried out in over 15 different neighbourhoods and districts – examples include Somercotes, Guilsborough, Belper and East Farndon. Another challenge related to funding and timescales; the works needed to be completed quickly in order to maximise the funding opportunities. Consequently, the project stakeholders had to collaborate on agreeing designs, KPIs, reporting procedures and mobilisation plans from the earliest possible stages.

One such stakeholder partner was the external wall insulation supplier, Permarock Products, which helped to speed progress by developing tailored designs and detailing on the basis of property-by-property retrofit assessments. Other partners provided similar input and support with respect to measures including solar photovoltaic panels and air source heat pumps. (See below for details.)

Results

The whole team worked well together, despite the various challenges, and made excellent progress. The average time-in-property was originally estimated between 5 to 7 weeks but, in the event, the average was very much at the lower end of that range. Early mobilisation, good communications, and a constant focus on quality helped to ensure that all works were completed on schedule in December 2025. The team could potentially have accelerated progress even further but it had to work within the client’s annual funding constraints. All KPIs were met or exceeded and the works have attracted positive feedback from a number of residents.

The retrofit designs and measures varied according to the different property archetypes and assessments, but in general terms, they included the installation of external wall insulation systems, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, room-in-roof insulation, electric storage heaters, solar PV panels, air source heat pumps, ventilation upgrades and low energy lighting. All works were completed in accordance with the PAS 2030:2019 standards.

A significant proportion of the project budget was allocated to locally-based suppliers, so the project had a positive impact in terms of local jobs and the local economy. Moreover, in order to enhance the scheme’s social value, we converted the site compound into a parking area for a local green space once the works were completed.