Royal Borough of Greenwich – Capital Works Programme

The Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) is a London borough in Southeast London. The council provides vital services including housing, education, social care and community support to their 25,000 leaseholders and tenants. RBG’s focus is on improving the quality of life and opportunities for all residents.

In 2023, the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) launched its largest investment in council homes for a generation: a £430m Capital Repairs Programme, including £21m dedicated to energy efficiency to enhance the quality of homes across the borough. The five-year programme follows a detailed stock condition survey and assessment of RBG’s stock and prioritises homes, blocks and assets which are in the greatest need of repair and refurbishment.

RBG’s focus is on long-term sustainability, including energy efficiency measures such as fabric-first retrofits, improved ventilation, allowance for heat pumps and PV and major upgrades to communal heating systems.

The borough is divided into North, South and West regions. FFT is leading the West, collaborating with two other consultancies in the North and South.

Our project spans 53 estates, including 450 blocks and around 8,000 homes, covering roofs, windows, doors, heating, kitchens, bathrooms and other low-carbon initiatives to follow the granting of the Warm Homes funding.

FFT is providing Strategic and Project Management services across the 5-year programme, acting as Lead Consultant. These services include building surveying, contract administration, strategic consultancy, communications planning, setting of the brief, technical specifications, planning and listed building consent, retrofit services, fire safety support, BRPD, CDM, and structural and mechanical coordination. We also supported RBG’s SHF Wave 3 bid, delivering property data, retrofit assessments, EPCs and programme planning.

We played an active role in the project’s design, ensuring the specification aligned with the client’s ambitions. This included advising on replacement materials and balancing planning conditions with opportunities to adopt low-carbon alternatives, in support of their energy efficiency programme, such as triple glazing, wall insulation and air source heat pumps.

Working collaboratively with the contractor, we established clear protocols and brought the full project team together at contract commencement to agree on procedures. Throughout, we prioritised quality and value for money, collaborating with consultants to ensure consistent standards in materials and installation.

A key challenge was guiding RBG through the strategic and project-related risks of delivering large-scale programmes and works on High-Risk Building projects. With RBG’s evolving experience of delivering capital works of this size, managing complex projects across three regions within five years required clear strategic direction, which we helped to define through a number of workshops.

One major risk was understanding the energy performance of existing stock and identifying measures to achieve at least EPC C. We began with EPC surveys of property archetypes to build a profile of energy ratings, whilst collating and verifying data from RBG’s stock condition survey (SCS) and online information.

However, SCS data was limited and often unreliable, so we proposed 100% validation surveys of communal areas and 20% of dwellings, ensuring an even spread of archetypes, giving reliable baselines for component replacement relating to the external environment. We combined SCS and EPC data to prioritise and focus capital investment, setting out strategic direction in the form of a project plan, KPIs and a risk matrix.

Risks are tracked through monthly meetings and risk workshops with consultants to ensure lessons learned are shared across the programme.

As part of the programme, we are working in partnership with Charlton Athletic Community Trust to fund and deliver social value initiatives and employment skills workshops, including CV writing and tutoring for young adults who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), in order to improve their confidence, employability and literacy skills.

This programme will help RBG achieve value for money, comply with the Decent Homes Standard, and ensure all homes reach at least EPC C, while improving quality of life for residents and delivering long-term sustainability.

The Social Value Pilot Scheme has already had a measurable effect on the community, improving mental health, increasing positive attitudes towards education and reducing social isolation.