Delivering independent PAS 2035 retrofit coordination and lead design across 50 geographically dispersed rural properties under the Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Project Overview
- Client: Shropshire Council
- Sector: Local Authority / Private Residential (Local Authority-Administered Grant Scheme)
- Location: Shropshire (county-wide, rural)
- Services Provided: Independent PAS 2035 Retrofit Coordination and Lead Design
- Scale: ~50 rural properties, 5 specialist installers
- Target: SAP rating of 72 (EPC C) via a “Fabric First” approach, under Sustainable Warmth Shropshire / Warm Homes: Local Grant
The Challenge
Delivering a retrofit programme across a rural county presents its own logistics problem before you even get to the buildings themselves – this project involved 50 properties dispersed right across Shropshire, from Oswestry and Whitchurch in the north to Ludlow and Bishop’s Castle in the south, with some sitting right on the county’s border with Wales and Worcestershire. A significant share of that stock was traditional solid-stone construction sitting within Conservation Areas, ruling out standard measures like External Wall Insulation outright and demanding a bespoke fabric-first approach that could hit the EPC C funding target without compromising the moisture and breathability of heritage buildings. On top of that, the Council was working with five separate specialist installers spanning fabric to heat pumps – a structure that, left to coordinate itself, risked disjointed delivery, damaged building fabric or work that simply failed PAS 2035 standards. What Shropshire Council needed was an independent technical lead who could sit above the supply chain, not inside it.
The Solution
Independent PAS 2035 Retrofit Coordination & Lead Design
We integrated directly with the Council’s Affordable Warmth team as their independent technical partner, taking full ownership of the PAS 2035 compliance process rather than leaving the supply chain to self-govern. Where installer-led models can occasionally lean toward specific products or higher-margin measures, our role was to specify the most cost-effective, genuinely impartial pathway for each property – maximising what the Council’s grant funding could actually achieve. For homes where external changes were off the table, we pivoted to Internal Wall Insulation paired with continuous mechanical extract ventilation, protecting against the damp and mould risk that airtightness improvements can otherwise introduce in older rural properties.
Acting as the objective validation point between the Council and its five installer companies, we reviewed every design before it reached site to catch thermal bridging risks at the interfaces installers don’t always see from their side alone. We applied the same rigour to Social Value monitoring, using postcode tracking to independently verify local workforce delivery.
The Outcome
Our direct management gave Shropshire Council assurance that funding was delivering verified performance, not just paperwork. Every property had a compliant Improvement Option Evaluation and Medium-Term Plan in place before installation began, securing the evidence trail needed for TrustMark lodgement and grant drawdown. The numbers speak for themselves:
- £821 average annual resident bill saving
- +15 average SAP point improvement
- 1.9t CO₂ reduction per home, per year
- 60% of the deployed workforce verified as Marches-based – double the Council’s own 30% local delivery target
Client Testimonial
In delivery of the Warm Homes: Local Grant programme in Shropshire, Building Energy Experts (BEE) have acted as invaluable partners to the Council. Their expertise in reviewing installer designs and liaising with our consortium of local installers has ensured the technical compliance and appropriateness of measures installed under the scheme.
The Council’s goal was to find a critical friend that ensures best practice and full PAS2035 compliance under schemes it delivers – BEE have brought this in spades, accompanied with a professionalism and pragmatism that has been indispensable in navigating the nuances and complexities of local authority led, domestic retrofit schemes. I would highly recommend engaging with BEE to any council or social housing provider considering an independent retrofit coordination model.
— Merrick Rose, Affordable Warmth & Energy Efficiency Support Officer, Shropshire Council
