Retrofit as Health Intervention: Making It Personal
06/10/2025
Matt Chenery
Putting health at the heart of retrofit
Retrofit is no longer just about achieving Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) targets. For sector leaders like Mustafa Mustafa, Decarbonisation Director at Morgan Sindall Property Services, the conversation has shifted. “Residents want a warm, dry, comfortable home,” he explains. “This is not an abstract aspiration. It’s about dignity, health and quality of life.”
Mustafa, who has led large-scale social housing retrofit programmes recognised for their quality, believes framing retrofit purely around carbon reduction fails to connect with the people who live in these homes. “If you go in and say we need to get this property to a C or a B, that’s not relevant to them. But talk about reducing damp, stopping mould and helping them heat their home more affordably – that resonates.”
This realignment reflects the broader aims of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 3 and beyond: tackling fuel poverty, improving health outcomes, and creating more resilient homes.
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