Key developments that will shape social housing retrofit in 2026

Andy Sutton, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Sero, shares his outlook on the key developments that will shape social housing retrofit in 2026.

2026: Time to get on the right boat 

I believe 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the UK’s journey to Net Zero. Right now, the energy and construction sectors are moving on different trajectories, and unless we bring them together, we risk losing impact. 

The energy sector is already out at sea, accelerating toward electrification and renewables. Projects like EQUINOX show heat pumps can deliver reliable flexibility. Environmental Levy changes support electrification, and reforms like “P415” unlock the potential that resident-level technologies such as batteries have promised. Even with the ECO scheme ending, retail energy companies will play a significant role in improving the UK’s 30 million homes. 

Meanwhile, the retrofit and construction sector remains closer to shore, facing long-standing challenges around time, cost, and quality. While there are many positive exceptions, the market ranges from major contractors charging significant fees, to an unregulated landscape with little quality control. Stakeholders increasingly frame retrofit as a solution for biodiversity, social isolation, health, embodied carbon, and placemaking, valid goals, but hard to quantify and reliant on long-term data. 

The risk? In 2026, the energy boat sails on while construction lingers at the water’s edge. If we board only the energy vessel, we’ll electrify homes at scale and decarbonise as the grid shifts, but without addressing fabric, ventilation and quality, households may face higher bills and poor comfort. If we stay rooted on the construction shore, we’ll fail to scale at all. 

Decades of attempts prove that remaining on the shore cannot deliver scale. 

What needs to come aboard? 

To succeed, we must bring the essentials from retrofit onto the energy-led journey, enough to achieve meaningful outcomes without overloading the boat. These essentials are: 

·       Quality standards that result in safe, reliable installations that perform as intended. 

·       An affordability focus - retrofit must remain accessible to households. 

·       Improve health outcomes with homes that prevent damp, improve ventilation, and support wellbeing. 

·       Secure the demand reduction basics, insulation and airtightness to complement electrification. 

These are non-negotiables. We may not consistently deliver every ambition, such as embodied carbon or community-owned delivery, but defining retrofit as creating homes that are decarbonised, affordable, and healthy is far better than being left behind. 

2026: Stop debating, start delivering! 

This is the year to move beyond definitions and start delivering at scale. With innovative technology, data-driven decisions, and collaboration across sectors, we can create homes that work for people and the planet.