Homes carry meaning far beyond their walls. They are where people raise families, take pride in improving, and express who they are. Yet the very places that matter most to people also pose one of our biggest collective challenges: Britain’s homes are among the leakiest in Europe, draughty, gas-dependent, and expensive to heat. This comes at a high cost, leaving households exposed to volatile bills, contributing to stubborn levels of fuel poverty, and driving wider social costs, from pressure on the NHS to higher carbon emissions.

Upgrading homes through insulation, cleaner heating, and smarter technologies is essential. Policy debates have rightly focused on affordability by providing grants towards upfront costs, and levy reform to reduce running costs. But barriers go beyond the economics of upgrades. People worry about disruption, distrust quality, or simply feel uncertain. Home improvement decisions are also shaped by aspiration and identity, how people want their home to feel, and the example set by friends and neighbours. Yet communication has rarely engaged with these motivations, relying instead on narrow economic framings, such as promises of lower bills. With the government’s long-awaited Warm Homes Plan on the horizon, there is now a clear opportunity not only to highlight the financial support available to households for upgrading, but also to reframe how they are presented to the public. By broadening the story beyond bills, there is an opportunity to accelerate the uptake of upgrades.

This report, produced by Public First with support from the MCS Foundation, aims to identify the opportunities to change that story. Through focus groups and a survey of 4,000 homeowners, we built a new segmentation rooted in the values and attitudes that shape upgrade decisions, and tested different message framings aimed at increasing interest in heat pumps, insulation, solar panels, and smart thermostats. This revealed both the themes that resonate across the population and where tailoring to specific audiences and technologies can make a difference.

Our research shows that while people expect upgrades to save them money, that message on its own might not be the most effective framing to drive action. Households also respond to other motivations: comfort, control, visible upfront support. We also found that messaging made a greater difference to interest in heat pumps than to more familiar measures like insulation or solar, highlighting a clear opportunity for communication to improve uptake with this particular technology. Our survey and focus groups also revealed a clear divide between how people view renovations and energy upgrades. Renovations were seen as aspirational projects tied to pride and enjoyment, while upgrades rarely came up unprompted and were discussed mainly in terms of cost, disruption, and payback. Message testing confirmed this split: framings like ease, modernity, and pride resonated more in the renovation context, while comfort was the only theme that worked well across both, suggesting it can help bridge the gap.

Based on this evidence, we have set out five key takeaways for communication to be more effective and drive uptake more effectively:

1. Do not lead with bill savings alone when promoting upgrades. People expect savings, but they work best as reassurance, not the main hook.
2. Make upfront support visible and simple. Immediate offers such as grants resonate far more than distant promises of lower bills.
3. Lean into everyday benefits. Comfort and control outperform bills and climate arguments, and should feature more prominently.
4. Layer broad appeals with targeted framings. Whilst some themes resonated well across the broad, our segmentation revealed that certain groups responded well to specific hooks. Tailoring communication can help reach a wider audience even more effectively.
5. Make upgrades part of the renovation story. Upgrades should be normalised as part of home improvement, when households are already expecting disruption and planning finance. Lifestyle media, consumer advice, and policy can all play a role in linking the two, routinely presenting energy measures alongside kitchens and extensions, and creating levers that make it easier to do them together.

Download the report