Net Zero Housing Revolution

Turning the UK’s ageing social housing stock into modern Net Zero carbon homes is no longer a ‘nice to have’ bonus; it is a non-negotiable fact of life.

It is a reality that all social landlords are grappling with and even those with well-funded and deliverable plans face a major problem: how to make the transition to Net Zero fair and equitable for their residents.

This is where Welsh landlord Pobl Group and Retrofit specialist Sero have stepped in with a potentially mould-breaking solution. Working in partnership on the 644-home Penderi community in Blaen-y-Maes, Swansea, they have delivered a retrofit project designed to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and save residents money on their energy bills.

James Williams, one of Sero’s founders, says there are three key elements to the problem facing the housing associations and local authorities his company works with as they take on the Net Zero challenge:

1. How do you deploy small-scale renewable energy into communities?;
2. How can you create a model that secures funding for the longer term by generating an income?; and
3. How do you ensure fairness across a community?

Solar is unfair by its nature,” he explains. “Not all homes point at the sun and some people can’t put panels on their roof at all. So how can you use the income generated to level up the fairness across a community so that Mrs. Jones, who faces north and can’t have solar on her roof, can still benefit? Those were the challenges that we were brought in to help unlock

James Williams, Founder of Sero

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