How retrofitting can change lives across North Yorkshire - David Skaith
I recently visited Alex Lyon House in York and met a resident called Valerie. She is 79, a retired nurse, and she told me something I will not forget: since her flat was retrofitted, she no longer needs her inhaler. For years, outdated electric storage heaters left her home expensive to run and harmful to her health.
Dust in the air aggravated her breathing, the stairs became a struggle and energy bills caused constant anxiety. After the retrofit – modern heating, air source heat pump, and solar – her home is consistently warm, her bills are manageable and her health has improved dramatically.
That is why retrofit matters to me: it has the power to change lives.
I came into this role to support people and communities who too often feel left behind. When you hear stories like Valerie’s, retrofit stops being an abstract conversation about carbon and becomes about dignity, health and fairness. Warmer homes mean fewer hospital appointments, less stress and a better quality of life – especially for older and vulnerable residents.
Valerie’s story is not an isolated one. I have seen similar impacts elsewhere across our region. On the North Yorkshire coast, I visited Hungate Court in Hunmanby, a sheltered housing scheme retrofitted by Beyond Housing. Residents there spoke about lower bills, improved comfort and feeling more secure in their homes. In a coastal community where fuel poverty and older housing stock are real challenges, the benefits were clear.
These experiences reinforce my belief that retrofit must be central to how we tackle both the cost-of-living crisis and climate change.
With the government’s launch of its Warm Homes Plan, it is vital that national policy reflects what is already working locally. York and North Yorkshire is a complex region. We are the largest combined authority area in England and the first devolved region not built around a single major city. That diversity matters.
We have historic cities like York, growing towns like Harrogate. We also have vast rural and coastal communities, with properties that are decades or even centuries old. Many homes still rely on oil. Retrofitting a city-centre flat is fundamentally different from upgrading a stone cottage in the Dales or a coastal scheme exposed to harsh weather. That is why there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Our retrofit strategy must be bespoke, flexible and rooted in the reality of place. National blueprints designed for dense city regions cannot simply be dropped into rural Yorkshire and expected to work.
There is another side to this story that deserves far more attention: skills and business opportunity.
Retrofitting homes at the scale we need is not a short-term programme. It is a business for life. We will need skilled workers to install heat pumps, fit solar panels, upgrade insulation and maintain new systems for decades to come. This is about creating secure, well-paid jobs and giving local people the skills to deliver the transition in their own communities.
For me, this always comes back to people like Valerie. When she tells me she can breathe more easily, climb her stairs without fear and no longer panic about her energy bills, that is the strongest possible case for retrofit. If we keep people like her at the heart of our decisions, I am confident this work can transform lives across Yorkshire.
David Skaith is the Mayor of York & North Yorkshire.