Gavin Oxenham, group general manager at Procast Group, discusses the importance of the new ‘Retrofitting Roundtable Report’, and how the Hamilton-based principal contractor is setting an example
SCOTLAND’S journey to net zero is fraught with challenges and our housing is not immune to scrutiny. We have increasingly less time to address these concerns, and amidst the Scottish Government’s recent announcement of a housing crisis, it is paramount the findings of the new retrofitting report are implemented with urgency.
As the country lags behind its ambitious climate targets, a new collaborative roundtable, led by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), housing minister Paul McLennan and MSP Gordon Macdonald, was pulled together to pave the way forward.
The CIOB approached Procast Group a year ago to help lead this transformative discussion, championing a more cohesive and effective approach to retrofitting Scotland’s housing. We are recognised across Scotland, for our expertise and dedication to improving the way things are done in this area. Our involvement in the discussions was to highlight the work we have done over the last 12 years, and our unwavering commitment to utilising the country’s existing housing market through our innovative retrofitting solutions.
I presented the roundtable with extensive data we’ve put together, success stories, and where we are feeling the limitations. Our contributions aren’t just theoretical. We have examples of large-scale projects, in the region of 1,200 homes with varying retrofit measures over the last 18 months, but perhaps our most exciting work is the number of innovative projects, such as our work with the University of Edinburgh, analysing different methods in a side-by-side experiment in a six-home study with them and Loreburn Housing Association.
Our goal is to share these as blueprints for national replication as we all have the same goal – to sustainably house all in Scotland and reach our net zero targets. As part of the wider understanding of how this all works on the ground, we can’t overlook education. Our relationship with South Lanarkshire College has shown what an official accreditation platform for skills crucial to the industry would be worth, like External Wall Installation. Such an initiative would open doors to high-quality job opportunities for our local youth in this burgeoning sector. Having this accreditation will also help the industry justify the funding it needs.
Our philosophy has always been to share and allow others to learn from our experience, similar to the opensource idea in software communities, and so we are delighted with the proposal for Glasgow to house a retrofitting hub for bodies across the country to feed into and learn from each other.
Our experience has too often been with overlapping procurements, with projects taking on a ‘patchwork quilt’ structure, avoiding obvious inefficiencies in time and resource that become frustrating to all parties involved. It becomes too slow, expensive, with a lack of central strategy or oversight. This fragmentation is what we aim to help overhaul.
I proposed that housing associations, which have a direct hand in housing management, are better suited to oversee funding that too often sits with local councils simply because of their historic ownership of these homes. By championing single procurement campaigns, we are not only ensuring cost-effectiveness, but also meeting the electorate’s growing demand for substantial, impactful housing projects.
It was a delight to see the proposed establishment of a Ministerial Oversight Group on retrofitting to ensure that the government has a holistic understanding of what it can do and so can properly support retrofit initiatives. We hope that such a group could get a grasp of the critical inefficiencies in the current funding models for such projects.
With the complicated and fragmented funding pots, the industry’s call for increased, centralised, and ‘blendable’ funding is loud and clear. This new funding approach would allow companies to tap into multiple sources, streamlining the process and maximising the impact of each pound spent.
Despite all the work that is to be done, the last year of collaboration with the CIOB has left us optimistic about what is to come with the worth of retrofitting finally infiltrating the political consciousness. It’s incredibly satisfying to contribute to such a productive and transformative process, one which promises significant benefits for the industry’s growth, the taxpayer’s pockets, and ultimately to create warm, efficient, and eco-friendly housing to as many people as possible.
In contrast, seeing it from the front-line, the announcement of a housing crisis by the Scottish government is a stark reality-check. These conversations must trigger urgent and meaningful action.
