Retrofitting homes

Whether your home is already part of the programme, coming up soon, or you're simply curious about what's involved, you'll find what you need below, including how to stay updated as works reach your area.

Our retrofit strategy

Read our Housing Retrofit Strategy, our plan to improve homes and a central part of our Climate Emergency Action Plan. Today, housing is recognised as a major contributor to carbon emissions, accounting for half of Lewisham's total emissions.  Alongside the environmental benefits, delivery of the strategy also creates opportunities for:

• improved housing quality
• protecting residents from rising energy costs
• better indoor and outdoor air quality
• economic growth through green jobs and skill development

Local authorities do not have responsibility for upgrading all homes, and a wide range of different sectors will need to work together to retrofit housing across Lewisham at the scale needed. Nevertheless, we recognise our pivotal role in coordinating efforts, accelerating progress, and attracting investment for council-owned housing.

The estimated cost of fully retrofitting all homes in the borough is £3.2 billion, reflecting the scale of this challenge. However, this strategy adopts a pragmatic approach:

• focusing on achievable, immediate steps
• demonstrating success through innovation and partnerships
• building the evidence and capacity needed to scale up as policies, funding, and the economy align to meet climate goals

What is the Lewisham Retrofit Programme?

Lewisham Council is working to upgrade homes across the borough, to make them warmer, healthier, cheaper to run, and better for the planet. Homes can receive insulation, better ventilation, new heating, and in some cases solar panels, with council homes that are the coldest, dampest or most expensive to heat prioritised first.

We're currently delivering Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, jointly funded by Lewisham Council and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ): over £16 million of improvements to up to 800 council homes between 2025 and 2028, aiming to bring every home to at least an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C.

Residents whose homes aren't part of this council-led programme (for example privately owned properties) may be able to access separate support through the Warm Homes: Local Grant.

Read more about the programme.

The Citizen Science programme

Retrofit happens inside people's homes, around their routines, their health and their sense of security, and so decisions about insulation, ventilation and heating are never only technical. To understand what that experience is actually like, we worked with South East London Community Energy to train six Lewisham residents as Citizen Scientists, among which two Goldsmiths University students.

Over three months, they spoke with 44 residents by phone and interviewed 8 of them again in person, all of whom had already been through earlier phases of the retrofit programme - as well as shadowing assessors, contractors and Resident Liaison Officers to see the process from every side. The aim was to hear directly from residents what mattered most to them, in their own words, rather than relying only on surveys or formal reporting. Read more about the research, including the findings. 

This research is helping shape how Wave 3 is delivered:

• Contractors have been taking part in a training programme which involves a review of the previous retrofit programme, resident journey mapping and vulnerability training
• A resident-informed Code of Good Practice is being developed alongside contractors, setting out shared standards for how works are carried out
• A revised welcome pack gives residents plain-English information on what to expect, their rights, and a five-step journey through the process
• Resident circumstances, including health conditions and caring responsibilities, are considered from an early stage when planning works

The Citizen Scientists' full findings are published as a zine, A Neighbour's Guide to Navigating Retrofit, being distributed to all Wave 3 residents alongside their welcome pack.

Find out more and stay updated: the Lewisham Retrofit Hub

For full details on funding, timelines, contractors and which areas are being prioritised, visit the Lewisham Retrofit Hub, our dedicated engagement website. Sign up there to receive email updates as works progress near you.

Visit the Lewisham Retrofit Hub and subscribe for updates.

Contact us

For questions about the retrofit programme, you can reach us at retrofit@lewisham.gov.uk.