The National Retrofit Hub is collaborating with LHC Procurement Group
The National Retrofit Hub (NRH) and LHC Procurement Group (LHCPG) have been thinking together about one big question: how can we unlock wider value and long-term term benefits in retrofit by involving communities during procurement?
Procurement is a theme that has arisen across the NRH’s working groups and network collaboration. Last October, we brought together more than 60 members of our network joined our Procurement Cross Cutting Theme Group to understand where meaningful change could be made. Following that, a partnership was formed between the NRH & LHCPG to examine this crucial topic for retrofit.
Why does social value matter when delivering retrofit?
Many of us know that retrofit doesn’t just deliver more energy efficient housing. It leads to healthier, more comfortable, resilient homes, with co-benefits that extend far beyond the building itself. Retrofit can provide opportunities to embed skills and training into delivery, create wealth within communities, and strengthen relationships between citizens, residents, and contractors alike. Leading with social value means working towards common goods, capturing the economic and environmental value which isn’t immediately quantifiable.
Yet these outcomes do not emerge automatically from a contract specification. They depend on meaningful engagement with communities, whose priorities, assets, and aspirations shape what social value looks like in practice. If social value is to be genuinely realised, it must be co-created rather than simply procured against a predetermined set of metrics. Together we want to explore what the options are for this co-creation.
The community as a partner
LHCPG and the NRH are exploring how better procurement practice can enable community involvement – allowing citizens to set the terms on which social value is delivered. Community retrofit groups have expressed interest in taking a more active role during procurement. These groups have the potential to bring value to the process: building resident trust, improving uptake and opt-in rates, ensuring projects meet community needs, improving the quality of installs, and smoothing relationships between all parties.
Standard forms of retrofit and construction contract create a relationship between two parties: a ‘client’, either the building owner (housing providers, etc.) or the organisation funding the works (such as the local authority), and the contractor. In many procurement models:
- The client defines social value
- The contractor delivers social value
- The community receives social value
But the community often has limited input into defining what success actually means.
So, what would it mean to foster mutually beneficial three-way relationships; creating partnerships, expectations, and accountability between community representatives, local authorities / housing associations, and contractors?
Convene, Evidence, Act
Our approach to this question, as ever, was to engage with our network. In July, we held a workshop to do exactly that, to convene the sector around a common interest; to evidence and listen to experiences, with the intention of creating something actionable.
The workshop was structured around a typical retrofit procurement scenario to explore what a formalised three-way contract would look like between client, contractor, and community. In three breakout rooms representing the perspective of each, a set of questions were posed to help identify the opportunities and the challenges.
Key Takeaways
The following were the main thematic takeaways across the breakout rooms.
- Equity & Representation. Tenants within housing associations are often represented through community boards with several representatives. However, participants highlighted a tension with approaches where communities are presented with predetermined proposals and invited to respond to them. They argued that this is unlikely to foster an equitable partnership, and that communities should instead be involved from the outset, helping to shape both project design and the foundations of the partnership itself. Residents’ input is likely to generate the greatest benefits when it informs decision-making at an early stage.
- Build Relationships Early and Think for the Future. A common insight emerged that engagement should begin long before retrofit projects move into delivery. Participants noted that meaningful engagement rarely takes place before programmes are designed, procured, and mobilised, limiting opportunities for residents to influence priorities and outcomes. Instead, housing associations could begin engagement in the pre-planning phase, integrating residents into project boards and partnership structures from the outset. This raises important questions about how relationships between housing providers, contractors, procurement teams, and communities can be established before the point of contract, and how procurement itself might become an enabling tool rather than an administrative process. What could long-term vision bring, to a retrofit landscape which is focused on short-term delivery?
- Agency, Choice and Investing in Civic Infrastructure. The outcomes that social value should deliver should be co-designed by the community, rather than an automatic default to outcomes which are generally understood to create ‘social value.’ Residents should define what ‘social value’ should be delivered. But residents also need to be empowered the right skills to engage in consultation and decision-making. This could mean investment in Voluntary and Community Sector Energy (VCSE) organisations, enabling participation as equal partners. It could also mean including methods such as citizens assemblies and juries, to value the insights residents already bring by empowering them with more skills and processes. We mustn’t miss out of the fact that contractors can play a vital role in determining what “social value” means (See our article, Strength in Numbers). This is about building shared values between all partners.
“When you put people with lived experience at the heart of the project it can change the questions you ask. This requires a process, giving people the skills to participate equally” – workshop participant
What’s next?
These are all open questions, and ones we hope to continue exploring with you, our network. Yet, we know there are things that still need to change to enable these visions. We are convening a follow up workshop looking more at the role of contractors in social value design and delivery. If you would like to be part of this conversation, please drop us a line at info@nationalretrofithub.org.uk. As ever to stay up to date with our projects and research, sign up to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.
