Adapting owner-occupied dwellings in the UK: lessons for the future

Abstract

With 80% of the 2050 housing stock already built, the UK has at least 19 million existing homes in need of low carbon retrofit. Practice–theory-based studies have argued that these retrofits must be understood in the context of wider home adaptations and routine practices of dwelling. Therefore, changes in practices caused by the Covid-19 pandemic create a gap in the knowledge regarding the impact on home adaptations and integration of low carbon retrofit. This research compares two stages of interviews: the first undertaken in 2015–16 (30 households), investigating home adaptations and the practices of dwelling they supported. The second stage undertaken in summer 2021 (nine re-interviewees) asking participants to reflect on how their practices of dwelling had changed and how their homes had accommodated this. Rigorous line-by-line coding of the relationships between attributes of the home and practices of dwelling allows comparison between stages, offering original practice–theory-based insights into the implications for home adaptations. The findings show that practices of homeworking in particular placed great spatial and environmental pressure on the homes of growing families. If continued, these practices would create increased demand for dedicated workspaces, and significant opportunities to integrate fabric improvements and low carbon technologies into these adaptations. <em><strong>Practice relevance</strong></em> Long-term adoption of home-working practices could trigger home adaptations among households of growing families. Analysis of pre-pandemic adaptations to support homeworking suggests, first, this is likely to manifest in loft conversions; and second, these present a significant opportunity to integrate renewable energy in the form of solar panels. Furthermore, higher rates of homeworking have facilitated a stronger appreciation by owner-occupiers of the benefits of energy efficiency measures in creating normative standards of comfort that support practices of dwelling. These findings are significant for practice because they identify the opportunity that home adaptations to accommodate altered practices of dwelling present to integrate low carbon retrofit technologies into these homes. This will require action from policymakers and industry to increase practical understandings of these technologies among owner-occupiers; increase the availability of specialist installers; and implement appropriate regulations and financial procedures to support the integration of low carbon technologies into practices of home adaptation.