16 | ECD ARCHITECTS: A NEW MODEL FOR TACKLING ESTATE REFURBISHMENT AND FUEL POVERTY Portsmouth City Council own and manage approximately 15,000 residential properties with a further 2,000 leaseholders. They also own approximately 800 commercial buildings and have an annual repairs and maintenance budget of £50M. They have a long-term interest in the quality of their assets and as a responsible social landlord they have a duty to provide decent housing for their residents. As a major landowner and local authority PCC also have the opportunity to finance long-term investments and improvements to their building stock. As a result of the initial feasibility study ECD recommended the deep retrofit of Wilmcote House and this was accepted by the Head of Finance (PCC) who noted in the 2012 Cabinet report that... “Wilmcote House is over 40 years old. Without refurbishment it will be uninhabitable in the medium term and costly to maintain in the short term…the financial appraisal of the scheme demonstrates that the high specification of work is cheaper over the 30-year plan than demolition and replacement…the energy saving measures proposed will in addition reduce the ongoing running costs of the block.” This project was financed by PCC to drastically reduce the heating bills by approximately 90% and as such the primary beneficiaries will be the residents of Wilmcote House. However, PCC will also benefit from the significant reduction in ongoing maintenance costs and increased ability of residents to pay their rent. This project has informed both PCC and the wider housing industry and will hopefully be the first of many similar retrofit projects as we seek to tackle fuel poverty and decarbonize our building stock. LONG TERM VISION PCC 30-year Investment.