Place-Based Retrofit in Practice
This resource explores how places across the UK are delivering retrofit on the ground. It combines real-world examples with practical guidance, so practitioners can develop their own place-based retrofit strategy. Whether you are launching a first project or scaling an existing programme, it offers a useful starting point.
We designed it as a collaborative tool for people working in local and combined authorities, as well as organisations at neighbourhood level. In practice, it helps them initiate, shape and deliver place-based retrofit, and shows how this connects to the wider system.
Why a place-based strategy?
Place-based approaches respond to the diversity of homes and neighbourhoods across the UK. Because every area is different, they tailor retrofit delivery to local contexts while strengthening the connections between policy, people and place. However, a clear gap remains between those already delivering place-based retrofit and those just beginning. Without accessible guidance and shared learning, approaches risk staying fragmented or failing to deliver real impact.
What’s in the place-based retrofit strategy guidance?
This resource addresses that gap. It brings together case studies of places already developing place-based approaches. It offers practical insight into the key components of a place-based retrofit strategy: partnerships, community engagement, supply chains, delivery models and finance. These insights draw on a literature review and on engagement with the NRH network, including surveys and workshops.
Who developed it?
The National Retrofit Hub developed this guidance in partnership with the UK Green Building Council and the Energy Demand Research Centre, with support from The MCS Foundation. It forms part of a wider project to build a replicable, scalable framework for place-based retrofit — one that empowers everyone from national and local government to community groups, industry and citizens.
