Decarbonisation that makes sense when every pound matters
The challenge
Local authority and housing association budgets are under serious pressure. A recent Inside Housing report revealed that London boroughs alone face a £264 million shortfall in their housing budgets, with some close to bankruptcy. Across the UK, social housing providers are having to make hard decisions: protect services, maintain homes, or invest in long-term energy resilience?
At the same time, the drive to decarbonise hasn’t gone away, and for older housing stock, the question isn’t whether retrofitting is needed, but how to do it affordably, safely, and without disrupting tenants.
That’s exactly the balance our client needed to strike when they commissioned Carbon3 to deliver a multi-property solar PV rollout.
The solution:
Our client manages over 20,000 affordable homes across the UK. For this project, they selected 42 properties where the addition of solar PV could reduce tenants’ energy bills, lower emissions, and strengthen long-term asset performance.
Carbon3’s in-house team designed solar layouts for each home taking into account orientation, roof shading, and property condition. We avoided inefficient placements, such as shaded or north-facing installs, to make sure every panel would deliver maximum value.
As with many social housing projects, all homes were tenanted, requiring careful coordination and communication. Our team arranged access with residents, scheduled works to minimise disruption, and ensured tenants always had full access to their homes.
To keep the project resident-friendly, we also held regular coffee mornings to answer questions and build trust. For the systems themselves, we installed bird mesh and external risers to reduce future maintenance, as well as delivering all works to PAS:2035 standards, ensuring full compliance and quality assurance.
Tenant benefits:
Too many energy retrofit projects focus only on compliance or carbon metrics. But in the current environment, savings on tenant energy bills are just as important.
Our client’s tenants are now seeing average savings of £459.29 per year, giving real relief at a time when energy prices keep increasing. The solar systems not only help to cut costs, they also strengthen the sustainability and EPC profile of our client’s stock, therefore futureproofing homes without requiring disruptive or deep retrofit works.
This aligns with broader trends in UK housing, where estates more than 100 years old are successfully adopting heat pumps and solar to reduce emissions without compromising quality of life.
Delivery:
Carbon3 acted as the principal contractor throughout, managing design, delivery, and communication. Every installation was carried out by our directly employed engineers to keep consistent quality control and to safeguard residents.
There were zero reported incidents across all 42 properties, and the project was delivered on schedule and within budget.
Sustainability is embedded across our delivery model too. Our management team travels using electric vehicles, and installation teams use EVs where possible. The remainder of our fleet is made up of low-emission vehicles, with a full transition to all-electric planned by 2030.
Why does it matter?
The truth is that social housing providers can’t afford to get energy investments wrong. Poorly scoped or underperforming systems waste limited funds and lose tenant trust. But done properly, solar PV offers a scalable, low-disruption route to reducing costs and meeting net zero goals, especially on older stock that would be difficult to insulate.
This project demonstrates that with the right planning, experienced contractors, and resident-focussed delivery, solar PV can generate savings from day one while setting the foundation for deeper future decarbonisation.
Carbon3 helps housing providers decarbonise safely, affordably, and with minimal disruption. Contact us at info@carbon3.co.uk to discuss your next retrofit phase.
