The Big Street Upgrade
Around 19 million homes in the UK need upgrades by 2030— not just to cut carbon emissions but to make them warmer, more comfortable, and fit for the future.
The scale of this challenge can feel overwhelming. That’s why Hubbub wanted to explore whether community collaboration could make the process easier for households and accelerate home improvements.
A community effort
After a local media call-out, Hubbub identified two streets in Glasgow ready to take on the challenge. 28 households joined forces to explore how they could collectively make their homes more energy-efficient. With support from a local coordinator and a dedicated Facebook group, residents received expert guidance, shared ideas, and navigated funding schemes together.
The changes we were interested in were:
- Insulation (wall, loft, underfloor)
- Upgrading windows and doors
- Hot water boiler pipe insulation
- Mechanical ventilation
- Heating system upgrades
- Solar or thermal PV
Dan
What did we learn?
- We followed the households through the full experience from start to finish and the various pitfalls at each stage (more on this in the full report).
- By the end of the project, eight households had a new home energy upgrade installed; paid for through government funding or self-funded.
Our insights
We've come away with five key insights from the project. Click on the subheading to read in full.
There is a real benefit to approaching this issue street by street. Many of the households will have similar queries, especially if the housing stock is all the same and once one neighbour gets something done, it gives others a sense of what’s also possible for their home. Theoretically, working in the same location with similar materials should also speed up the installation process for the contractor.
For many residents, going through the process as a street was appealing as they felt it de-risked and legitimised the experience. Many streets are now connected through neighbourhood WhatsApp groups, making it easier than ever to tap into these neighbourhood networks. Hiring a local community engagement coordinator also worked well to offer updates, facilitate conversation, answer questions and relay any resident concerns.
Retrofit is awash with technical jargon and abbreviations which can be very confusing and off-putting for people. However, when broken down into more manageable chunks and everyday language (for example; draught-proofing, insulation, boiler upgrade) households felt it was within closer reach.
Renovations are a major undertaking for homeowners who take understandable pride in their homes, which is often their most valuable asset. This can clash with how contractors might view a retrofit project as ‘just another job’ and want to get works delivered quickly, which can lead to important details being overlooked.There is also a need for greater transparency and reassurance from contractors. Households can easily be scared away from retrofit, especially with so much negativity in the media, so their concerns should not be taken lightly.
Before the trial, the residents who had already made home improvements did so at a time when their life circumstances changed in a notable way, for example moving house, a growing family, children leaving home or an expensive appliance breaking such as the boiler. This presents an opportunity to use this moment of change as an anchor for communications around retrofitting.
What's next?
We hope this report can help everyone involved in the energy industry better support households to make their homes more efficient.
If you’re interested in discussing how Hubbub can support household engagement in energy efficiency, please get in touch.
Want more on energy?
Read about our project Home Advantage, a blueprint for government and businesses to support UK households to live more sustainably.
See Hubbub in action
From Community Fridges that cut food waste to Ballot Bins that halve cigarette litter, our campaigns show what taking action that's good for the environment looks like in practice.