Jack Birch, HDRC Research Fellow, writes how an evidence search and possible research study could improve the uptake of housing retrofitting schemes.
Jack Birch, HDRC Research Fellow, recently worked with the climate change team at Coventry City Council to search the evidence and identify barriers that people face to accessing grants for retrofitting their home.
These grants provide money to improve the insulation and energy efficiency of housing. Good quality housing is a determinant of health and can impact physical and mental health in various ways.
The evidence search found that the main barriers to housing retrofitting schemes were cost, time, and inconvenience. These findings are informing a possible research study aimed at improving uptake of grants and has led to several teams at Coventry City Council collaborating on how to better use data to identify who may be eligible for, but not accessing, such grants.