Illustrative photo.
Most social housing retrofit happens with residents living at home. Whether a programme keeps its access rates and its residents’ goodwill depends as much on the liaison around the work as on the work itself. This is a plan for before, during and after, built on what the standards and the funders already ask for.
PAS 2035 already puts the resident inside the process
PAS 2035:2023, the whole house retrofit standard, is specific about occupants. The retrofit assessment must include an appraisal of occupancy: how many people live there and any special considerations, such as children, elderly people or people with disabilities (clause 7.3.2). Retrofit advice must reach the occupants whatever the tenure, and where they are tenants the same advice must be offered to the landlord (12.1.2). It must be in a form the occupants can understand, taking account of language, age and any hearing or sight difficulties (12.1.3).
The standard sets four points for that advice: at first engagement, after the improvement options are evaluated, when the design is complete, and at or shortly after handover (12.1.4). The first round covers how to complain about poor service, with TrustMark given as an example of a quality assurance regime (12.1.5). Within three months of handover, a basic evaluation asks the client and the occupants whether they are satisfied with the outcome and with the process (13.4).
Funders and TrustMark expect more than a letter through the door
The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 guidance warns that poor engagement can lead to refused access or residents withdrawing later, and that leafleting and cold calling, used on their own, are not enough. Bids are expected to show how residents will be supported during the works and once they are living with the new measures, and reasonable adjustments must be made to limit disruption, especially for people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. The Warm Homes: Local Grant guidance to local authorities flags the same risk for residents with protected characteristics including disability, pregnancy and maternity, older age and religious belief, who may be unable to use some rooms, or their whole home, while work goes on.
TrustMark adds a layer of consumer protection. Registered businesses are vetted and monitored by scheme providers for technical competence, customer service and trading practices, and must have a complaints process. If that and the scheme provider's process are exhausted, a consumer can take the dispute to the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman. For work lodged in its Data Warehouse, TrustMark also carries out desktop monitoring and risk-based inspections. Tenants of social landlords also have the landlord's own complaints procedure and the Housing Ombudsman.
Tell us about the homes, the measures and how your residents prefer to be contacted. We reply within one working day with questions, not a brochure.
Before work starts, find out who lives there
- Occupancy and needs. Who lives in the home, any vulnerability, the preferred way to make contact and any reasonable adjustments, such as a translator, accessible formats or a family member present. Awaab's Law guidance asks landlords to keep this kind of record, so agree what the contractor will be given.
- Access planned with the landlord. Appointments, letters and scaffold agreed before anyone arrives, with times that suit the household.
- A named contact. One person in the office the household can ring, who gives the same answer every time.
- Vetting. Operatives checked to the standard the programme sets. On the programmes we are recruiting for, that includes an enhanced DBS check for work in occupied homes.
- How to complain. Explained at first engagement, as PAS 2035 requires.
Two programmes led by Miles Sharples, project lead, now Managing Director of Energy Giants, with a skilled, accredited workforce, show what this looks like with households that are hard to reach. On the Durham County Council programme, the Durham Energy Friends charity trained residents as Energy Champions to help reach vulnerable homeowners. In York, sign up events at community venues and a named liaison officer took each owner from survey to the handover of warranties.
During the works, one contact and a safe room every evening
On the programmes we deliver for housing providers and councils, resident liaison sits with the office team, so households know who to ring and get the same answer every time. Access is planned with the landlord, every property is photographed before, during and after, for the retrofit file and for the resident, and rooms are left safe and clean at the end of each day. A customer reviewing internal wall insulation on Google put it this way:
"Both worked extremely hard even staying late to make sure the rooms were all safe and clean before they left."
Martin P., internal wall insulation in Bath, on Google
Tell each household what happens next: which room, which day, what needs moving and when the heating or water will be off. A change to the plan should reach the resident before the operatives do.
Awaab's Law changes what happens when an operative spots mould
Since 27 October 2025, social landlords have had to act on damp and mould and on emergency hazards within fixed times (SI 2025/1042). Emergency hazards must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours. Significant hazards must be investigated within 10 working days, with a written summary to the tenant within 3 working days of the investigation and safety work completed within 5 working days. Phase 2, which adds hazards including excess cold, is due to come into force on 30 November 2026, subject to Parliamentary approval.
The government's guidance lists notification by a third party, including contractors, as one way a landlord becomes aware of a hazard, and asks landlords to make sure the contractors they use for Awaab's Law repairs report any other hazards they find, and any safeguarding concerns. The same habit makes sense on a retrofit programme. Whether the clock starts when the contractor sees it or when the landlord is told can depend on whether the contractor is legally the landlord's agent, so the guidance advises legal advice and a review of contractor agreements. In practice, agree a same day reporting route for damp, mould and hazards before mobilising, and log every report. Awaab's Law does not require retrofit, but a programme that reports what it finds quickly helps the landlord meet its own deadlines. Our Awaab's Law guide sets out the timescales in full.
Handover goes to the people who live there
Under PAS 2035, handover is to the occupants, with the landlord included where the occupants are not the client (11.2.1). It covers what was installed, how to use the controls, how to look after the measures, and why ventilation matters and what happens if it is switched off (11.1.2). Handover advice is the main contractor's or installer's job, overseen by the retrofit coordinator (12.1.8). We explain the work and hand it over in person, with the paperwork.
Ventilation is the point most worth repeating: a household that switches off a new extract fan can undo the moisture control the design relied on.
Put the liaison plan in the contract
| Stage | What the resident gets | Evidence for the file |
|---|---|---|
| Before | An introduction, a named contact, needs and adjustments recorded, how to complain | Occupancy appraisal, contact log, agreed access plan |
| Survey and design | Advice on the options and the design, in a form they can follow | Advice records at each PAS 2035 point |
| During | Appointments kept, rooms safe and clean each day, changes told in advance | Photographs before, during and after, and hazard reports passed to the landlord |
| Handover | A walk round, controls and ventilation explained, paperwork left | Handover sign off, certificates and guarantee documents |
| Three months on | A chance to say what worked and what did not | Basic evaluation returns |
Ask for this plan at tender, and score it. Our supplier information page has the certificates and policies your procurement team will want alongside it.
- BSI: PAS 2035:2023 Retrofitting dwellings for improved energy efficiency (read 21 October 2026)
- DESNZ: Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 Scheme Guidance (read 21 October 2026)
- DESNZ: Warm Homes: Local Grant, Policy Guidance for Local Authorities (updated June 2026) (read 21 October 2026)
- TrustMark: Consumer protection (read 21 October 2026)
- MHCLG: Awaab’s Law, guidance for social landlords, timeframes for repairs in the social rented sector (read 21 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, regulation 1 (read 21 October 2026)
- MHCLG: Awaab’s Law Phase 2, guidance for social landlords (read 21 October 2026)
Miles has led retrofit programmes at scale across the UK, with long-standing relationships with local authorities including Kirklees Council, Durham County Council and Ribble Valley Borough Council. He has project-directed programmes for housing associations and delivery partners including Aspire Housing, Sureserve, LivGreen and BroadOak, and for energy suppliers including E.ON Next, Utilita, British Gas and Octopus, and for tier one contractors including UKEM.