Sanctuary has a Strategic Partnership with the UK Government’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) national retrofit programme. This has seen us receive the largest allocation of the programme’s grant funding to a single bidder, creating a programme of over £100m of reinvestment works alongside Sanctuary’s co-funding.
Our programme aims to improve the energy performance of almost 10,000 homes: from Cornwall and Cheshire to Hull and Banbury. Over 2,500 homes have already received these improvements, with customers enjoying free electricity thanks to new solar panels, warmer homes through insulation, and improved air quality through ventilation works.
Prior to works taking place, each home receives a bespoke retrofit assessment. This allows for consultation with the household, helping to inform the design of the works before they are delivered to industry standards (PAS2035).
Each customer can then have the confidence that their home has been improved to the highest quality levels.
In our first year of delivery, from April 2025 to March 2026, we improved 1,200 homes to reach an Energy Performance Certificate rating of Band C, reducing the risk of unaffordable fuel bills to our customers and improving comfort at home.
While WH:SHF is our flagship retrofit programme in England, we have also been delivering decarbonisation works in Scotland through our involvement in the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund (SHNZHF) project.
As devolution across England progresses, we have also secured grant funding with the West Midlands Combined Authority through their Devolved Building Retrofit Pilot. More than 240 homes will receive energy performance improvements, including solar panels, ventilation measures, insulation works, and low-energy lighting.