Abri Homes,
Bracknell
Project Highlights
Project Management: Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 2.2
Installations: Insulation and renewables
Funding: £2.8 million (50% funding from DESNZ, 50% match from Abri)
Project Scope: 283 total properties
Installs completed:
- 129 fabric installations
- 198 solar PV systems installed
- 133 homes with improved ventilation
InstaGroup was initially approached by Silva Homes to support their application to the Social Housing Fund (SHF) Wave 2. Silva Homes was acquired by Abri Homes in October 2024.
Discussing the beginnings of the partnership, Alex Fellowes-Freeman, Partnerships Manager at InstaGroup, said: “Silva initially approached us with a limited knowledge of their housing stock and what they could do to improve it, and that limited knowledge meant they were really on the back foot of being able to apply for funding and getting Government grants towards this. We initially looked at 500 properties of the portfolio of around 6,000 and used that information to submit the bid to Government, which was successful and helped the grant award of £1.4m which goes into the delivery of the schemes.”
InstaGroup’s detailed stock analysis programme enabled us to:
- Conduct full retrofit assessments, design and coordination in compliance with PAS2035 regulations
- Identify improvement options tailored to each property
- Model energy efficiency measures across Abri’s wider 6,000-home portfolio
- Supply InstaGroup-branded products
- Work in close collaboration with Abri’s internal team to build the funding bid for submission to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Our role
- Stock analysis & retrofit assessment, design and coordination
- Funding strategy & bid preparation
- Project management & mobilisation
- Retrofit delivery & reporting
- Partnership & tenant engagement
- Social value activity
Following successful award in March 2024, Silva ran an open tender procurement process, which was formally awarded to InstaGroup to fully manage the delivery of the grant funding in August 2024.
We mobilised with our first surveys on 5th September 2024 with installations following shortly after.
By the end of April 2025 in total we have installed 119 loft insulation, 8 cavity wall insulation, 2 external wall insulation, 198 solar PV installations and upgrades to ventilation in 133 homes.
Delivery has been ahead of agreed timelines and below expected costs in the original application for funding with a current delivery cost of £1.5m. This has allowed Abri to apply to increase the number of homes improved, within the original £2.8m budget.
Next steps
Thanks to the successful delivery and cost management, Abri has applied to increase the number of homes retrofitted under the programme. We now expect the total number of upgraded properties to reach at least 350 homes – enhancing the impact of this pioneering retrofit initiative whilst remaining within the original budget.
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