Warm Homes – How Co-Ops can retrofit Britain
This fringe discussed the idea that cooperatives of heating engineers are uniquely placed to solve some of the problems of retrofitting homes with green energy-efficient heating systems. Several elements need to come together in a way that isn’t necessary for new builds:
- Differently skilled contractors are needed for different build structures of houses of different ages. A Co-Op can pull them together and make them available.
- Co-Ops tend to be more trusted by the general public than individual contractors.
- Home owners are generally asset-rich and cash-poor so accessible loan schemes are crucial. Credit unions can help by undertaking more risky lending than a high street bank. Their “rules of incorporation” allow them to take more risk if they have more credit.
- The National Wealth Fund is underwriting bank loans to social landlords for heating retrofit projects and the Treasury is pushing for these loans to be at low interest rates.
Alan Conochie – October 2025