Rykneld Homes – SHDF Wave 2.1

North East Derbyshire, England

Project Value: £21m

Introduction

This multi-measure scheme, delivered on behalf of North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC), represented a further consolidation of the long-standing relationship between SBS and Rykneld Homes. It followed the delivery of multiple decarbonisation measures under other funding streams including the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) and the Local Area Delivery scheme (LAD) phases 1A, 1B, 2 and 3. Those projects began in 2022 and had a collective value of around £12 million.

On the strength of the projects’ success, funding was awarded for a successor SHDF Wave 2.1 scheme. It would be a multi-measure programme, delivered to the latest PAS standards. It would feature a range of challenging, non-traditional archetypes, and would constitute one of the largest SHDF Wave 2-funded schemes in England.

The Project

The project entailed installing multiple decarbonisation measures to a total of 640 homes, using funding from Streams 1 and 2 of SHDF Wave 2. Property types included REEMA, Aireys, Wates, Unity, No Fines and BISF.

This wide variety of non-traditional archetypes made it especially important to adhere to Trustmark principles and to develop designs and action plans on the basis of property-by-property surveys. It also demanded that staff maintain excellent communications with residents in order that work could be completed quickly and efficiently, with minimal disruption to individual households and the wider community.

In accordance with a fabric-first approach, primary measures included external wall insulation, loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, and the installation of energy-efficient doors and windows. As the scheme progressed, its scope was extended to include the installation of solar PV panels and air source heat pumps. All measures were installed to MCS and PAS 2030 / 2035 standards.

To maximise economies-of-scale, retrofit works were delivered in conjunction with other repairs including re-roofing, structural improvements and ventilation upgrades.

Results

Having already conducted a housing asset review, and with supply chain partners alerted well in advance, the team was able to mobilise quickly upon award. Within the first 8 months, SBS had already handed over more than 220 properties.

As a result of its early success, the team secured £500,000 of additional devolution funding for the incorporation of the solar PV arrays within the SHDF programme and 7 whole-house retrofits to ‘off-gas’ properties. Measures included the installation of new cavity wall insulation, 7kW air source heat pumps, and 4.2kW solar PV arrays.

The project was completed on time and on budget in March 2025, in line with the original SHDF deadline.

Listed below are the calculated annual savings pertaining to the 640 homes:

Total space-heating savings:      51,006 kWh/m²/year
Average per property:                  79.7 kWh/m²/year

Total CO2 savings:                       966,790 kg/year
Average per property:                  1,511 kg/year

Total energy savings:                   4,475,883 kwh/year
Average per property:                  6,994 kwh/year

The project ultimately brought benefits to an estimated 1,600 residents. They reported that the works had helped to improve their health, to enhance the warmth and comfort of their homes, to improve their overall living standards, and to reduce their energy consumption.

Safety

Unannounced safety audits were conducted every month by SBS’s independent HSE consultant, and the whole team maintained an excellent safety record. Through effective planning and implementation, and through the introduction of its innovative ‘Sustainably Safer’ programme, it produced zero reportable health & safety incidents throughout the duration of this scheme.

Project Evaluation – DESNZ

During the delivery period, the project underwent an audit by The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Salix Finance. It had attracted the interest of these bodies due to its large-scale funding drawdown, its high rate of successful handovers, and the team’s ongoing success in achieving its KPIs. The inspection was intended, at least in part, to inform the design of a programme of work for the remainder of the scheme. The audit also sought to detect instances of fraud, error and non-compliance risks, and to identify examples of good practices that could be shared more widely to improve overall performance.

A three-stage approach was taken: a walkthrough to understand the site, a proxy site visit and a site visit. The walkthrough found that all anticipated processes were in place. This included clear handover packs, inspections, photographs of completed measures, invoices, Trustmark lodgement information and customer surveys.

19 properties were selected for the proxy site visit. Invoices, inspection reports, photographs and Trustmark lodgement information were provided and reviewed with no issues identified.

During the site visit, 18 randomly selected properties at various stages of completion were viewed. The audit noted that customer liaison activity “is supporting good relationships with residents and allows for issues, both with access and installation, to be resolved quickly.”

Other noted examples of good practice included taking opportunities to deliver additional improvement works to the properties wherever appropriate (e.g. widening paths and repairing broken gates and fences.)

As a result of a very encouraging audit report and the successful delivery of the scheme, Rykneld Homes went on to be awarded additional SHDF Wave 2 funding. This enabled the retrofitting of a further 60 properties, which were completed and handed over in the spring of 2025.

Social and Community Impacts

From the earliest meetings with stakeholder partners, Rykneld Homes and SBS emphasised the importance of identifying, creating and maximising local social and economic impacts.

By giving priority to local supply chain partners and labour, the scheme ultimately injected an estimated £5.4m into the local economy, while also creating jobs and training opportunities in the area. The scheme directly supported 12 full-time and part-time shared-resource roles at SBS, a further 60 within its immediate supply chain, and up to 10 roles within Rykneld Homes. Around 80% of the operative and site management roles were taken by people living within 15 miles of the sites. The works also supported the creation of 4 new apprenticeship/trainee roles and supported the delivery of vocational/accredited training to a further 30 people.

Keeping expenditure focused on the surrounding area, the team appointed local suppliers to deliver associated works such as re-roofing, glazing, concrete repairs, scaffolding and waste management.

Together with the many benefits arising from engagement with the supply chain partners, the stakeholder team also managed a number of community-focused initiatives. These included training and employment projects, community clear-ups, charity donations and a voluntary initiative that focused on the distribution of warm clothes to those in need.

Project Continuation – SHF Wave 3

Following the project’s success, SBS was appointed in 2025 to deliver two further major energy efficiency programmes across North East Derbyshire, in conjunction with Rykneld Homes and North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC). For more details, please see our original news post.

The work will be delivered across a number of different districts via two core projects, which have a collective value of over £15 million. They include a £10.4m programme for Rykneld Homes, funded via Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and a £5.1m programme for North East Derbyshire District Council, funded through the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG).

Over the next three years, the associated works are set to deliver retrofit improvements to around 700 homes across North East Derbyshire. (This figure comprises approx. 400 social homes for Rykneld Homes, and over 300 privately owned and rented homes for NEDDC.) Many of the homes encompassed by the schemes are among the least energy efficient in the district and are located in areas where fuel poverty is a known risk.

By taking a mixed-tenure, area-based approach, the team aims to deliver fabric-first improvements to both social and privately-owned homes. This should help to extend the resulting benefits to as many residents as possible – benefits that include lower carbon emissions, lower fuel bills, and improved comfort and wellbeing.

Both of these follow-up contracts were directly awarded under Efficiency East Midlands’ (EEM) Property Improvements and Decarbonisation Works Framework. The decision by EEM took into account our expertise, our long history of successful collaboration, and our consistent delivery of large-scale PAS-compliant retrofit projects.

Client Feedback

Describing the successful collaboration with SBS, Niall Clark, Deputy Managing Director of Rykneld Homes said: “We’ve been working with SBS for a number of years now and what they bring is capacity, and skills… helping us both to prepare a bid and with actually getting on site early and then being able to deliver. We’ve got confidence in their quality, and the two teams work really well together.”

Helen Brown, Head of Regeneration at Rykneld Homes notes that “We’ve all got joint goals, and we all know what part we have to play; we have regular meetings, we do joint customer engagement, and we certainly have a collaborative approach. It think we’re very much in synergy and we’re developing some amazing schemes for our customers. I think we’ve got an excellent working relationship. We’re improving the lives of our customers but we’re also improving the street scene of the communities we’re working in.”

Resident Feedback

“It’s going to cut back on bills, which is what everybody’s wanting, and it’ll be a lot more comfortable. We’ll not have to sit with our jumpers on and put a coat on to go and make a cup of tea. And even the general outlook and the feel of the place is better.”

“Even now, the homes are warmer and in winter it’s going to be great. It should save us a lot on electricity because we’re not going to have to have the heating on so much, and when you’re a pensioner, you know, every penny counts.”

“We’re not using much gas like we used to. We don’t get any wind coming through the window blowing the curtains out, like we used to; it’s just been fantastic – we’re saving money.”

“Rykneld Homes and SBS – always obliging; always answer a call if you ring up; not a two-day delay – straight away.”

Project Video and Photographs