The Home Improvement Agency Service is there to help vulnerable residents who are elderly, disabled or on low income to repair, improve, maintain and adapt their homes. The Council now employs a Retrofit Technical Officer (who is a fully qualified Retrofit Assessor) and undertakes assessments for vulnerable home owners and private sector tenants to address fuel poverty, and will identify the most suitable funding stream to advance installation of energy efficient measures (including referrals to CHiL). Through UKSPF funding, the Retrofit Technical Officer will be undertaking the Retrofit Co-ordinator certification and once completed, provides potential for a locally based Retrofit Co-Ordinator to work on grant funded programmes to fulfil the PAS/Trustmark requirements. Through CHiL, Rhea Projects actively pursue potential leads targeting eligible properties. Find out more about CHiL and the Home Improvement Agency.

Following adoption of the Homes Strategy, in 2021, the council set up a Developing Green Skills Group to bring a range of organisations and professionals together to forge links and work collaboratively to explore opportunities to increase the local supply chain. An early action was to engage with Lancaster University who ran an Eco-I construction programme for local construction companies. A number of key actions were led fed into the Developing Green Skills Group to explore. An Action Plan is currently in preparation which seeks to:

Strengthen links and develop a Training Providers Network and Lancaster Business support Providers Networks as a means of promoting retrofit skills
To establish a Consortium for Local Builders
Explore funding/opportunities to develop a Materials Bank for construction waste (with learning from the Rebuild Site in Carlisle)
Deliver a range of retrofit training following a successful UKSPF bid by skillsfix https://skillsfix.co.uk
Promote our partners Green Rose Home - Green Rose CIC who already provide a range of energy and money saving advice to low income and vulnerable households initially in Lancaster district which is now a county wide service, and currently seeking to develop an able to pay service for households not eligible for grant funded measures which would be piloted in Lancaster.
To explore opportunities for a Terraced Street project in Lancaster district.