Investment firm to spend £1bn buying and retrofitting homes for rent

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has estimated that the average cost to upgrade a privately rented property to an EPC C rating in the UK is around £7,650.

Retrofitting Britain’s housing stock – the oldest in Europe – will be key to meeting the government’s ambitious net-zero targets. Trustmark analysis suggests that 24 million homes in the UK are in need of some form of retrofitting.

Meanwhile, Savills has estimated that it will cost more than £300bn to bring the entirety of the UK’s housing stock up to modern energy efficiency standards.

And the CIOB called on the government earlier this year to improve the quality of housing across the board through retrofitting, which it said would help alleviate reliance on carbon-intensive energy systems.

Anna Clare Harper, head of sustainability at IMMO, says: “The built environment is one of the worst offenders when it comes to carbon emissions. Without a programme of mass retrofitting, the UK will not be able to meet its net-zero targets. 

“Public investment and regulations play an important role in bringing Britain’s housing up to modern energy efficiency standards.

“The private sector also plays an important role. Institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers are increasingly on the hunt for assets that produce reliable, long-term income streams to match their liabilities in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible.”