Credit: Kensa
HOW ARE THE MIDLANDS TAKING STEPS TOWARDS GOVERNMENT DECARBONISATION GOALS?
BY CAT VITALE
In the rural Midland’s communities, access to affordable and efficient heating during the winter months has been a longstanding issue, with over 254,000 West Midlands households currently living in fuel poverty.
However, through government support, housing associations are able to access funding which is bringing thousands of homes up to modern energy efficiency standards while improving resident living situations.
The new Warm Homes Plan in early 2024, stated that all rented and social housing properties will meet energy efficiency requirements by 2030, reaching a minimum EPC rating of C. Featuring new investment for British manufacturing, the plan is set to benefit up to 300,000 homes.
With aims to discuss how the UK can overcome these issues in the Midlands region, Housing Industry Leaders have spoken with an association who are taking a stance in improving the lives of its citizens.
Midlands Rural Housing (MRH), a provider serving four rural associations across the region, has embarked on an ambitious retrofit program that is transforming the energy performance of its off-grid properties.
HOW THE MRH RETROFIT PROJECT IS CONTRIBUTING TO DECARBONISATION
MRH were recipients of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, after receiving encouragement by the government to apply. The funding was given to social housing providers in aims of installing energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating measures to homes in England.
The association commenced its retrofit project in October 2023, targeting 118 houses across Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, and the Peak District and as of January 2025, 117 of the target 118 houses have been completed, highlighting a notable success in the Midlands, resulting in a total of zero refusals.
The project featured a comprehensive heat pump central heating system, alongside insulation upgrades and a complimentary solar panel installation in conjunction with battery storage.
While not only future-proofing its housing stock, Rural Midlands Housing aimed to deliver “tangible cost savings and improved living conditions for its residents”.
Speaking with the tenant liaison officer on the project, Adam Boam, HIL gained an insight into how the association’s project aligns with government expectations.
Despite government targets for 2030, MRH have stated how they are “ahead of that curve” and have secured that its rental stock will be up to a grade of C by 2028 as opposed to “running around in the 2029 and 2030 in the last minute crunch”.
Boam added how the energy efficiency increases led to tenants saving “between £220 and £280 a year in energy bills, and that’s based on approximate saving of 900 kilowatt-hour”.
As a region with numerous rural communities, addressing such issues may be challenging, as these homes are “in off grid areas where there is no main gas available”.
However, Boam noted that the focus was on the energy performance certificate for the property being “the main identifier of where we can make the biggest improvements” for those affected by low AEPC ratings.
COLLABORATION WITH MANUFACTURERS WHILST BOOSTING ENGAGEMENT
RMH have partnered with a consortium of manufacturers and companies across the project which helped to boost tenant engagement whilst ensuring the project maintains standards.
The housing association has partnered with Vaillant, a leading manufacturer of heat pump technology, to deliver these upgrades across their rural properties Vaillant played an active role in engaging with residents and addressing concerns about the new heating systems. The company brought interactive road shows to the local villages, setting up fully functioning heat pump displays where residents can see, hear, and even test the equipment.
“These road shows have been a big deal in the community,” explains Boam. “It really helps put people’s minds at ease to be able to come and experience the technology firsthand”.
Through further collaboration with DR Consultancy on retrofit assessments, the association was able gain a large scope onto the types of issues that are occurring, while targeting certain regions ensuring its “actually going to benefit people”.
Credit: Midlands Rural Housing
OVERCOMING RURAL HOUSING CHALLENGES IN THE MIDLANDS
While the benefits of Midlands Rural Housing’s retrofit program are clear, the team has also had to navigate a unique set of challenges inherent to the rural communities they serve.
We’re looking for the best option to pull them out of fuel poverty “
“ -Adam Boam
Unlike urban areas with more accessible infrastructure, these off-grid properties have presented logistical hurdles that require creative solutions.
“A lot of these homes are in really remote locations, where you can’t even drive up to them,” explains Boam. “We’ve had cases where the contractors have had to park their vans and then walk across a narrow bridge over a stream just to reach the property.”
According to MRH, the dispersed nature of the rural housing stock meant the project team had to align their effort whilst making sure “we bring the whole community up to the standard together”.
KEEPING A TENANTCENTRIC APPROACH
MRH have identified that the interests of their tenants remained at the forefront of the project.
Boam stated: “I was brought on to be a tenant liaison officer, to ensure that the project went as smoothly as possible, that the residents didn’t feel like they were being pushed into a box, and that they had a good understanding of what was actually going to be happening and why”.
Although the process itself can be seen as an “invasive” project Boam emphasised how the flip side leaves residents with “a phenomenally efficient central heating system, where previously they will have had a mixture of ancient storage heaters.
SEDDON Q&A
Housing Industry Leaders spoke to Tony Clark, Regional Director for the Midlands at Seddon Housing Partnerships, a Seddon family company, on the company’s focus on affordable housing, decarbonisation, and retrofitting in the region.
Tony Clark, Regional Director, Midlands, Seddon Housing Partnerships
Q Q
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and Seddon Housing Partnerships and what you aim to achieve in the Midlands?
AOriginally, I started my career in local government, but I’ve pretty much spent my whole career in the social housing sector…It’s all I’ve ever done.
Seddon Housing Partnerships is the affordable housing part of the Seddon Group, a 127-yearold, fourth-generation familyowned business, which is quite a rarity in the contractor market. There are five workstreams that we offer through Seddon Housing Partnerships which involves new build, planned maintenance, regeneration, compliance and retrofit. These all link in with our business plan: Better Homes, Better Lives.
Our philosophy is that if someone has a decent home, they will hopefully have a decent life too. Our mission fundamentally is to ensure we build great homes or to make existing homes as best as they can be for the people that live in them.
In the Midlands specifically, my business plan has three key objectives: to build resilient relationships with social housing landlords and other key stakeholders in the region, to build a great team internally to deliver the best customer experience, and to ensure we have a sustainable business.
With a big push on sustainability and social value, the Seddon family is genuinely keen to make sure their legacy is a positive one.
Have you got any current projects in the Midlands and what are some partnerships that have been crucial in delivering these initiatives?
AWe’ve got three current new build jobs on the ground, two of which are due to come to an end at around March/April time and then another new build project, which involves roughly 50 homes down in Nuneaton starting in the summer. Behind the scenes, there are lots of conversations going on involving six or so additional projects, where we are the preferred bidder.
On the refurbishment and retrofit side, we’ve got a whole host of contracts with various housing associations and local authorities for works such as fire safety compliance. We are also working on a refurbishment piece for a Housing Association down in Wyre Forest, which involves roofing and cladding replacement, and then new contracts starting in the next couple of months for damp, mould and condensation remediation.
Primarily, our partnerships are with housing associations and local authorities, but we also do our own land finding as well. So through going out and purchasing land, we will then talk to local authorities and housing associations that we would like to partner with.
In terms of our sustainability approach, we also have a joint venture with a waste recycling company, who do an awful lot of work for us around the monitoring of waste and where it goes.
Credit: Seddon
QWhat are the main challenges that Seddon HP faces in the Midlands region?
AIn the Midlands one of the main challenges we are facing is a skills shortage, particularly while HS2 is being developed. What you’re finding in the Midlands at the moment, is that all the contractors are fishing in that same small pond for expertise.
I think the other challenge is that, because there is a little bit of uncertainty at the moment around the quality of existing social housing homes, rather than focussing on building new homes, a lot of landlords have started to cut their development programmes in favour of spending this income on existing homes.
Although some of these challenges are not unique to the Midlands, they remain a hurdle to my team in trying to get the business to fully contribute to the challenges currently facing the social housing sector.
QHow are Seddon HP addressing government targets like the EPC level C energy requirements?
ASeddon has a good track record in working on hard-to-treat homes. For example, when the previous funding regimes were in place, we did alot of work around external wall insulation. But of course these days, the funding regimes have moved on, as has the technology, that we now install.
Credit: Seddon
While supporting organisations recently on the three Wave 3 bids, we recognised the urgency to meet government targets and ended up setting up a decarbonisation team. Through this we are offering a consultancy (and remediation) service to organisations that are perhaps not big enough to pay for expensive modelling assesments.
One example of a project was with High Peak in Derbyshire, we offered the consultancy service and modeled what the houses would need , and now we’re currently delivering the work to those 40 homes.
Alongside this, what we are also doing at the moment is we are putting our resident liaison teams through an NVQ in energy assessment. This is so that when the RLO’s are out there doing their day job, they are also able to provide support around home management and grant information.
QHow do you see the affordable housing growth in the Midlands over the next five to 10 years?
AThere’s quite a buoyant mood in the sector at the moment, which is the first for quite a while, and that’s because of the policies of the current government. This includes the push to build 1.5 million new homes over a 5-year period, and monies to retrofit homes so that they are easier to manage and easier to pay bills for. Then you’ve got existing stock, which is probably in some cases, at the end of its useful life. So there’s a real, pent up demand for work on both new build and on existing homes.
There are no two ways about it, the challenges remain about whether there is ever going to be enough money to do everything that is going to be needed to be done to those homes. But there’s no doubt that over the next five to 10 years, there will be a significant programme of investment that needs to go into social housing stock in a whole host of work types.
I think you’ve then got the devolution proposal, which the government is keen to roll out, involving in our case the West Midlands Combined Authority. These devolved entities are going to get more power, with more responsibility for delivery at a local level. So I think, from the Midlands perspective, that’s got to be great for us, as that’s putting the money, power, and policy making, local to where we are.
So that’s another partnership, another relationship, that everybody must foster, to make sure we all work together for the benefit of the Midlands, and we deliver what needs to be delivered.
Credit: Seddon
HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN TRANSFORM
SOCIAL HOUSING: AN INTERVIEW WITH VERICON SYSTEMS
ABOUT VERICON
Housing Industry Leaders sat down with Andy Greenhorn, National Sales Director at Vericon, to discuss how technological innovation is transforming social housing. In this interview, Andy discusses the current social housing challenges, and how Vericon are creating future-proof products to benefit the sector and residents alike. Vericon is a manufacturer of IoT devices. Their range of solutions span across various applications, including boiler management and emergency light testing, as well as temperature & humidity monitoring and power consumption solutions. At the core of Vericon’s mission lies a deep commitment to helping housing providers cut costs while simultaneously enhancing efficiency, maintaining regulatory compliance, and delivering an improved overall service to tenants.
QTell me about the current key issues within social housing
A“One of the big concerns is the current damp and mould problem, and with Awaab’s Law coming into play later this year - it means that housing providers have got to react more efficiently. They will need to be more proactive in finding the root cause of damp & mould as well as far better record keeping for investigations and remedial actions.
“There’s a lot of things going on within a property and without collecting all the data, we don’t actually know what’s going on. And this is where the industry is changing - because everybody wants data, but it’s how you handle the data and how you interpret that data to the tenant and to the Housing Association. This is where our strengths lie as a business - we know how to handle the data and we know how to actually produce the reports that are needed for housing associations to stay compliant.”
QHow is Vericon supporting Awaab’s Law?
A“Vericon supports Awaab’s Law implementation through specialised compliance management. We help social housing providers monitor and address damp and mould issues effectively across their entire property portfolio.
“Our Auditable Process directly aligns with the new regulations, delivering immediate data insights and automated reporting capabilities. Every damp and mould investigation, along with subsequent remedial actions, is automatically documented in our system, creating a comprehensive audit trail that meets regulatory requirements.
“The platform’s strength lies in its data-driven approach, providing social housing landlords with essential tools for proactive management. By capturing and analysing property data, our system enables early detection of potential issues, allowing landlords to implement preventative measures before problems develop into more serious concerns.”
Q ACan you tell me about your latest innovation in property management technology?
associations and property managers oversee their residential properties, offering unprecedented insight into residents’ living environments. HomeHub provides comprehensive environmental monitoring, assessing conditions within each property every five minutes. We recognise that daily monitoring isn’t sufficient for modern property management, which is why we’ve engineered this solution to deliver more frequent and accurate assessments, enabling early detection of issues such as damp and mould.”
QWhat role do you see IoT technology playing in the development of social housing in 2025?
“We are really proud to introduce HomeHub, our most advanced property monitoring solution to date. We have specifically developed this sophisticated system to transform how housing
A“It’s fundamental. There’s no way you can make smart choices within properties without collecting data, doing the analytics, and having thorough risk reports. You can’t make an informed choice to go out to a property, just to go back and see it two weeks later, or maybe a month later, and so on.”
QHow do your systems positively influence resident’s quality of life?
A“Resident engagement is a strong one. The recent release of our HomeHub, which is a seven inch touchscreen digital bilingual thermostat with built in temperature and humidity monitoring. It is a way of communicating between the residents and the landlord - It means that the residents are getting the right information about what’s happening within the properties. Actually, the product itself will even tell you that you need to start opening windows etc.”
QAre there any other transformative products you’d like to discuss?
A“We have a product called EmeRed, which is a compliance product. EmeRed is a small, intelligent device that is programmed to automatically carry out relevant checks to ensure that emergency lights are working when they are needed, compliant with relevant BSI standards and industry legislation.
“The product fits into the lights, and we can actually do all the checks remotely. That’s quite unique for us, and that’s just one side of the business.
Then, one of the biggest problems faced by the sector is underpressure boiler callouts and the costs related to them.. We’ve got a product called AutoFill that reduces pressure-related issues in your central heating system by automatically repressurising the system ensuring the system remains in optimal condition. That one product that would probably save, on average, about 60% of call outs.”
To find out more about Vericon click here.
PODCAST WRITE UP
GREG GRACE, CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER
QCan you tell me a little bit about Roofit.Solar, the concept, the technology and how it came about?
QGreg: Greg:
Greg Grace, Chief Growth Officer, Roofit Solar
Roofit.Solar founded almost nine years ago, and its story began with a personal need. Like many other startups, there wasn’t really a product on the market that looked great and was actual roofing material, and so from the start, durability and design have always been in our DNA. We chose the most durable roofing material as the basis for solar roofs, that’s metal. Metal roofs, they’ve been around for centuries. Many are 100 years old or older and are still working well today. And secondly, we selected a cell technology that’s been consistently perfected over the last 40 years. We like to say we didn’t invent the metal roofs and we didn’t invent the solar panel, but we perfected the way to put those two together, and this is how Roofit.Solar was formed.
How is Roofit.Solar’s offering different from conventional solar panels, and why is that important as we strive to net zero to appeal to more people?
Unlike conventional solar panels that you typically mount on top of your existing roof, our solution integrates the solar cells directly into the roofing material, so it’s a two in one product. It’s a roof and a solar system combined. This not only makes it much nicer to look at, but also makes it more durable and it requires less maintenance. For example, there’s no need to clean the moss or leaves that otherwise would accumulate underneath the regular solar panels. Our solar panels are actually the roofing material.
Also having a metal base makes the panel super durable. It’s really important striving for net zero, because buildings are responsible for roughly 40% of the EU’s energy consumption and 36% of the EU CO2 emissions. People love Roofit because it doesn’t compromise the appearance of their homes. It’s an elegant way to embrace renewable energy without sacrificing aesthetics. By seamlessly integrating into the existing architecture, our roofs adapt green technology and an appealing choice for a broader audience, which is crucial towards achieving net zero goals.
QWe’ve recently tested our modules with 10,000 Pascals of load. That means four meters of snow can go on top of the roof and it will stand, or 7100 Pascals of wind lift. And that’s equivalent to a category six hurricane. This level of durability is more than enough for typical residential homes, but it also opens up the market for high altitude mountains and other challenging environments. Today, the highest Roofit roof is installed at over 2000 meters; it’s a mountain refuge in Romania.
What are the applications in historic buildings, and how could this technology help to get through planning?
Greg: Historical buildings are a significant focus for us. Our solar roofs are designed to blend seamlessly with the traditional architecture. It’s a huge advantage when it comes to obtaining planning permissions. Since we use traditional metal roofing materials and traditional techniques–for example the double seam roof that we make, you can install it in America, in Norway, in Australia, in the UK, all over the world, it’s a common technique–our roof looks just like regular metal roofs. This makes them more acceptable for Heritage Preservation authorities, and in many cases, it’s the only viable option.
Another significant advantage is that historical buildings often have limits on how much weight can be placed on the roof. Our two in one product weighs 34% less than conventional roofing and solar panel combinations, so that makes it ideally suited for these structures. We have several notable installations on historical buildings, such as the National Library in Estonia, the Tartu University in Estonia, as well as hospitals, hotels, manor houses, and we have more in the pipeline we can soon share, also some coming up in the UK.
We’re seeing more and more cases like this as awareness rises. Municipalities, heritage production protection authorities, are increasingly recognising that historic buildings can be modernised and be more energy efficient without losing their charm and historical significance.
QHow does the product help aesthetically to preserve heritage and appearances?
Greg: Aesthetics are really where we shine. As mentioned, our roofs look like traditional metal roofs because the solar cells are integrated into the roofing sheets themselves. From a distance, you really wouldn’t know it’s a solar roof. I like to say our roofs are innovative, invisible and inspiring, and that’s particularly important for heritage buildings, where maintaining the historical look is crucial. Our technology ensures that these buildings can preserve the beautiful, classic appearance while benefiting from modern solar technology and modern solar energy.
QQGreg: Greg:
The EU solar standard, which will require a significant portion of European buildings to have solar panels, was adopted last year, so how might this kind of technology aid heritage buildings that are exempt?
If we look closer to the UK, I understand 40% of the UK properties were built before the end of World War Two. Many of the homeowners that we’ve spoken to want to use clean technologies to allow them to reduce their energy bills and emissions, but they’ve been prevented from doing this by very strict heritage planning rules. Planning also takes time. It adds time and different challenges. But fortunately, I’ve recently read that historical England’s historic England’s guide argues that the UK’s older housing stock could become a key part of the solution to lowering carbon emissions, and I agree totally with that.
There are around 400,000 entries in the National Heritage list for England and another 3 million homes in conservation areas. That’s about 17% of the building stock in England. Installation of on roof solar is generally not acceptable, as they detract from the building’s appearances. So our solution, Roofit’s integrated solar panels, is more acceptable.
How does this technology save on materials and the embodied carbon in the manufacture and supply chain?
Our integrated design means we use fewer materials overall, because we’re combining the roof and the solar panels into one product. This significantly cuts down on the embodied carbon and reduces the weight by about nine and a half kilograms per square meter compared to traditional roof setups, that’s the roofing material and the on-roof solar. Ours is roughly 16 and a half kilograms versus over 25 kilograms per square meter. That’s weight that doesn’t need to be produced, transported or installed. For a large, 2000 square meter building, this can reduce the weight by up to 19 tons. That’s huge. It’s not just more efficient in terms of materials, but it also makes the installation process simpler and more sustainable.
Credits: Roofit.Solar
The UK Climate Change Committee reports that buildings are the UK’s second highest carbon emitting sector, and around 25% of the buildings are over 100 years old. By keeping historic buildings in use, we can further improve the potential to limit carbon emissions. As we know, the most sustainable building is the one that already exists. Repair and maintenance and reusing of these historical buildings. It avoids the unnecessary release of carbon, of the embodied carbon by demolishing and building new buildings in the site. So this is what we strive for.
BUILDING NEW HOMES IN RURAL ORKNEY: EMBRACING AND PURSUING THE FABRICFIRST APPROACH AMIDST MODERN CHALLENGES
BY ORKNEY HOUSING ASSOCIATION
As a remote rural housing association, we are acutely aware of the multifaceted challenges with new builds, and in the face of an ever-evolving housing landscape, building new social housing has become increasingly complex.
With escalating construction costs, stringent environmental regulations, limited contractor pool, the need to cater to diverse needs, and shifting policy priorities - the task of delivering highquality, affordable housing is more challenging than ever. In this context, balancing affordability with growing expectations at both local and governmental level, requires careful consideration, as well as squeezing budgets to a degree which is threatening project viability.
EMBRACING THE FABRIC-FIRST APPROACH
The fabric-first approach is a key strategy for Orkney Housing Association in addressing some of the challenges This method prioritises the performance of the building’s envelope –encompassing walls, windows, roofs, and floors – before considering additional technologies. Notwithstanding the requirement for mechanical ventilation, by focusing on a high level of insulation, airtight construction, and durable materials, we ensure that the building itself is energyefficient and resilient – reducing reliance on supplementary technologies and systems.
MODERN TECH AND SHIFT TO STORAGE
As an association, we have been installing heat pumps for over 15 years. While all technology advances, what we have learnt is that the associated maintenance and replacement is problematic for a remote association. Given the price of whole units and components, there is limited local stock and logistical constraints add time and costs to any associated maintenance or replacement.
Furthermore, these systems can be considered more complicated in both to install – especially with limited local skilled labour, and to control as an end user. Often these systems involve a complete lifestyle and behavioural shift for many tenants. With the cost-ofliving crisis still apparent, we are seeing more tenants switching off anything that draws power, including whole house heating and ventilation systems.
Incorporating modern technologies, such as air source heat pumps and solar panels can offer significant benefits. However, these systems should only really be seen as enhancements rather than primary solutions. Our fabric-first approach ensures that the building’s inherent energy efficiency is optimised before introducing these technologies. Prioritising a thermally efficient building envelope enables high heat retention storage heating to be a practical and cost-effective choice for new builds, which not only caters to our tenant’s lifestyles, but also minimises the reliance on costly ad hoc technology.
With fewer moving parts, and less need for regular maintenance, storage heaters offer a durable heating solution that can withstand the wear and tear of everyday use. Their reliability in harsh weather, adaptability, cost-effectiveness, and energy efficiency aligns well with the needs of remote housing associations. While this could be perceived as a backwards step by the sector, in leveraging the benefits of our high-quality building fabric, the inclusion of storage heating can deliver a practical, affordable, and userfriendly solution that meets the unique demands of Orkney Housing Association and its tenants.
CONCLUSION
The housing sector is grappling with a range of pressing issues, each impacting our ability to build and maintain new homes effectively. The fabricfirst approach should be the cornerstone of all strategies moving forward but aligning with the emerging standards of the Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus and Social Housing Net Zero, will prove challenging.
RSL’s may have no other choice than to supplement their properties with the integration of low-carbon technologies to fully comply, which as a remote association, is concerning. As we move forward though, our focus will remain on delivering highquality housing that respects the unique circumstances of our remote location, the environment, and the needs of our tenants.
Credits: Orkney Housing Association
WHY INNOVATING HEATING IS VITAL FOR THE WIDER HYDROGEN LANDSCAPE
BY HANNAH WINTLE
It is widely accepted and understood that in order to meet global net zero targets, energy systems around the world will need to be diversified. This ‘no silver bullet’ mentality is driving innovation across the entire energy landscape as a wider tapestry of renewable energy sources is woven together.
The conversation around where and how each energy source can be used most efficiently is still ongoing, and hydrogen is becoming an increasingly dominant discourse. Decarbonising industry is vital to reduce overall emissions, but the households throughout Europe continue to be one of the largest CO2 emitters in the continent, and present a unique challenge to overcome. Where heating is concerned, hydrogen could represent an opportunity to target both industry and housing.
Housing Industry Leaders delved into the nuances of this topic with Tim Hannig, Founder and Managing Director of HYTING, a heating technology company founded in 2021 that seeks to deliver carbonfree heating fuelled by hydrogen: no CO2, NOx, or particulates.
AN ADAPTABLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO HYDROGENPOWERED HEAT
HYTING’s heating innovation offers a new approach to the heatingwith-hydrogen landscape. Their forced-air heating system utilises a molecular, exothermic catalytic reaction to turn a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen from the air into heat, producing water as the only by-product. This flameless oxidation process is at the heart of HYTING’s heating systems, developed in answer to the globally recognised challenge to decarbonise heat.
Importantly, HYTING’s system can support already established technologies, such as working as a hybrid with heat pumps, where the heat pump provides the base load of heating, and the hydrogen system is used at peak times.
“It can do both,” Tim said. “We can provide heating units that are purely heated with hydrogen, or we can do a hybrid, where a heat pump does the base load and hydrogen provides the heat load.”
The system, therefore, also promotes a positive business case for hydrogen in places like Germany, for example, where companies pay for the electricity they consume, as well as paying for peak consumption.
“As heating is a significant part of the energy consumption, you have to electrically heat and pay for the peak consumption, whereas if we do what we call peak shaving, you can–with a third of the power of your heat pump–cut off two thirds of the price for the electricity.”
“That means you save a lot of money, and if you replace that with hydrogen, which is expensive today, you still get a positive business case.
“
As well as promoting cost benefits for consumers, this approach also bolsters the hydrogen economy by creating a positive business case for using hydrogen at its current cost, which will only improve as hydrogen becomes more readily available and more competitively priced.
“I strongly believe that we have a technology that is actually very simple, and therefore the costs are low. If we offer a hybrid heating system, the pricing would be similar to what a pure heat pump system costs,” Tim added.
He also noted that in applications where hydrogen is already accessible, such as in industry, the system actually works out cheaper: “If you do pure hydrogen, it would be lower cost than a heat pump system. And therefore, if you combine it with any other consumer of hydrogen, such as fuel cell systems, the investment to use the hydrogen is substantially lower.”
RESIDENTIAL APPLICATIONS
REPRESENT A HUGE DECARBONISATION OPPORTUNITY
While at present, HYTING’s primary customer base is in industry, Tim emphasised the potential to use this technology wherever heating is required, and that as such, there is a great opportunity to decarbonise heat in the residential sector, too.
“
The system can be used anywhere. It doesn’t matter to the system what building it heats.
“
For the time being, the focus is on scaling up through their recent partnership with ebm-papst, a global leader in air technology and heating technology, which will enable HYTING to accelerate the development and market launch of its heat generator portfolio.
Following the growth achieved through this strategic partnership, Tim highlighted that theres is a significant potential to roll out this technology through the residential sector and help to decarbonise homes around the world. “We can see a huge opportunity in any houses with forced air heating, which is very common in North America specifically,” he said.
“We’re definitely looking into opportunities in the forced air heating market, but our development plan is also to use the same principle to create a complete NOx free boiler so that we can do water heating as well.”
“ “
Residential is the biggest market in the world. It wouldn’t be smart not to move into it.”
INNOVATION AND BRAVERY WILL DRIVE CHANGE SOONER THAN POLICY
In order to get there, and capitalise on hydrogen’s potential to become a viable heating solution, Tim emphasised the importance of innovation and courage to take bold steps within the sector.
Historically, he highlighted, the big advancements in energy and infrastructure have been facilitated by industry leaders taking the initiative to implement them. Adopting an ambitious and pragmatic approach has, and can continue to, facilitate progress.
The same is true for hydrogen. Tim said: “There are waves in politicians, but then there are the entrepreneurs who change the world most of the time, the innovators and the fast followers. I strongly believe the future of hydrogen lies with the innovators.
“When somebody invests into an electrolyser that’s been built and provides hydrogen, then people around start using it, and then there is another one elsewhere, and then another, it spreads. Then the pipelines will be the ones connecting it afterwards.
“ “
These individual or industry initiatives will pave the way for hydrogen as an energy source.”
In the case of heating, whether it is in industrial settings or in people’s homes, having the expertise, pragmatism, and determination to develop an ecosystem where hydrogen can flourish, could help to decarbonise one of the most carbon-intensive systems in our world today. As Tim concluded: “The technology is there. If we have the will to implement it and to execute it, we can do that, and that’s what we should be doing.”
Credit: Hyting
DECARBONISATION AND DEVOLUTION IN THE WEST MIDLANDS
BY HANNAH WINTLE
At the start of the year, a £1.7m funding deal for 124 social and affordable homes on five acres of derelict industrial land was confirmed, marking the biggest social housing drive the West Midlands has seen in decades.
With a clear mandate to improve social housing provisions in the region, the drive will not only help to home the 6,520 West Midland households who started 2025 living in temporary accommodation, but also create an opportunity to bolster construction skills and provide jobs.
“I’m turbocharging the construction of social and affordable housing to give people the stability and security they need in their lives,” said Mayor Richard Parker. “Everyone deserves a safe place to call home, and I’m focused on building the houses our communities urgently need.”
Citizen Housing Association is one of the largest social housing providers in the region, managing a portfolio of over 30,000 homes, from high-rise tower blocks to homes in rural areas, and their commitment to driving sustainability and providing energy efficient homes has seen a busy start to 2025.
“
[We have] a vision to make sure that our homes are a foundation
for people’s lives.
“ -Bridget Guilfoyle
While new housing is welcome news in the region, with the Mayor having pledged a target of 20,000 social homes to be built over the next decade to tackle the affordable housing shortage, the challenge to target energy efficiency and make housing more sustainable, as well as updating the West Midlands’ existing stock, remains ongoing.
Housing Industry Leaders sat down with Bridget Guilfoyle, Director of Assets, and Michael Park, Director of Sales and Programme Delivery, to hear how the mission to serve their residents is manifesting in decarbonisation schemes and sustainable achievements throughout the West Midlands.
It’s about the customer. It’s about the impact that you can have on their lives.
“ -Michael Park
SUSTAINABILITY FOR CUSTOMERS AND THE CLIMATE
According to Citizen’s 20232026 Sustainability Strategy, the housing association has outlined four key objectives:
1. Reduce carbon emissions from customers’ homes, operations, and wider supply chain
2. Embed environmental sustainability into business and operational processes
3. Future-proof homes, communities, and services against a changing climate
4. Improve the resource efficiency of our homes and operations
To achieve these targets, a number of priorities have been set, including boosting energy efficiency of their homes, engaging with customers as they embark on this decarbonisation journey, and working with others in the region and sector to drive environmental sustainability.
“
Having the right data has been key, because you can’t make decisions on inadequate information. All of this is about collecting data together and then setting some realistic targets off the back of that.
“
-Michael Park
Bridget explained that Citizen’s decarbonisation efforts have been an important step for the housing association, given the region’s high fuel poverty rates: “From an asset management perspective, our focus has been on decarbonisation projects, and has been probably for the last three years.
“[We have] carried out critical energy efficiency improvements in more than 2000 homes in and around Coventry. I think we have been very lucky to be able to access grant funding with DESNZ, and work in partnership with Coventry Council to be able to secure that for our customers, because the West Midlands has got the highest level of fuel poverty across England.”
Through their work, Citizen are continuously striving to bring their average EPC rating up to C, and Bridget acknowledged that while there is still a way to go in achieving this, adopting fabric first approaches has seen success in delivering appropriate measures across their various property types.
As well as decarbonising their existing stock, Citizen are still working to deliver new homes that are built with sustainability in mind. In January, the housing association handed 15 new homes in Cheltenham Croft, Coventry, over to customers.
Michael said: “Those properties all have air source heat pumps, helping to combat fuel poverty. They’re going to see reduced fuel bills off the back of that. They’re interlinked with that system, they’ve got an app that they can control their heating through. It would be great to be able to do more schemes like that.”
Credit: Citizen Housing Association
Citizen’s ongoing commitment to boosting sustainability saw them achieve SHIFT gold accreditation at the beginning of the year, following assessment between September and November 2024.
Despite the achievement, Bridget highlighted that it doesn’t mean the social housing provider will slow down with its efforts to deliver sustainable change: “We want to maintain our SHIFT gold status, and there are a few bits and pieces in there that we do need to still achieve, certainly around our fleet and office management.”
LEADING THE CHARGE IN THE WEST MIDLANDS
Off the back of their sustainable progress, Citizen are also keen to work with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as well as other organisations within the region to consolidate wider decarbonisation efforts.
“It’s quite interesting, the change in the market, and certainly with the WMCA, and how they are working in partnership with everybody to try to do the right thing, but also, we are given the opportunity to help shape some of that,” Bridget said.
However, she also highlighted the need for substantial funding programmes to roll out over the next decade or so, in order to maximise potential and decarbonise the West Midlands effectively, at the same time as ushering in a new era of devolution which will empower the region to make more sustainable progress.
As part of the Deeper Devolution Deal, announced in the 2023 spring budget, this year will see retrofit funding devolved to allow the WMCA, and partners, to set priorities for investment in insulation and green energy for homes.
“At the moment, it’s great to talk to the Combined Authority, but it’s also around deliverability and the timescales that we need to get some of this funding out the door by, and we are still creating a path for the devolution processes.”
Sharing best practice will be essential when it comes to delivering on the region’s retrofit goals, and Citizen are well placed to share their experiences given their work to date, and their range of property types around the region.
“
We’ve got a lot of learning, and we have got
a focus team who do step out and share all those experiences with individuals and smaller organisations to help try to support them.”
“ -Bridget Guilfoyle
Keeping an eye on the future, Bridget added: “We want to work in partnership with the Combined Authority, make sure that we’re delivering the right thing for our customers, and reduce the overall fuel poverty, and that’s what their criteria is as well. Localised decision making is great, it focuses much more on a regional perspective, and delivers what’s needed for the West Midlands.”
Credit: Adobe Stock
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