Helping Make Homes More Resilient in Littleborough and Wardleworth, Rochdale

We know that thousands of homes in the UK need retrofitting to both mitigate and adapt to climate change, however even when home improvements are funded, the retrofit process can be somewhat disruptive for residents; with access needed for multiple surveys and measures often being noisy and messy to fit.

Groundwork are working in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council and JBA Consulting on an innovative project in Littleborough and Wardleworth where homes receive a full climate resilience plan; identifying retrofit measures which look at energy efficiency improvements and flood resilience measures at the same time .

Working at a neighbourhood scale, the partnership are hoping to make 300 homes in the areas more resilient for the future. Surveys for energy and flood risk are conducted by multiple specialists at the same time, meaning only one disturbance for the home owner. The surveys consider:

• Can insulation be improved (eg loft and wall insulation, double glazed windows)
• Can the heat source be improved (installing the latest heating systems)
• Can floor doors be fitted

To date, Groundwork’s domestic energy assessors have undertaken 150 energy assessments on the project and identified a range of potential improvements, which, if funded, would work alongside the flood mitigation measures.