Barriers to domestic retrofit: learning from past home improvement experiences

This chapter discusses research conducted within the United Kingdom (UK) based on data obtained from 20 owner-occupier households identifying the barriers that deter people from making improvements to their homes and therefore implementing energy saving measures. It highlights a range of interrelated and sometimes rather intangible barriers to making home improvements to older, hard-to-treat properties and suggests ways these barriers can be overcome. If the UK is to meet its carbon reduction targets, it will be necessary to retrofit energy saving measures into the majority of homes. With approximately three-quarters of the houses that will exist in 2050 already built, this presents an enormous task. It is essential for these sometimes subtle issues to be understood in order for policy makers to suitably engage home owners in taking up energy saving measures and to inform the requirements for skilled professionals and their involvement in the process.