The programme is being delivered by the Mayor of London and is backed by a £3.45m fund from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

From this summer social housing providers will be able to access the centre for technical support and guidance on how to retrofit their aging and energy inefficient housing stock.

The announcement has been timed to allow registered providers to develop their plans to scale-up housing retrofit schemes ahead of the next round of the £160m Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

The new centre of excellence is part of a package of measures being led by the Greater London Authority to accelerate investment and industry capability around retrofit as part of its drive to make London zero carbon by 2030.

An Innovation Partnership has been set up by the Mayor to create an expert body of supply chain partners to support housing providers with their retrofit projects.

The UK-wide scheme has a potential value of £10bn in retrofit works of which at least £5bn is expected to be spent in London.

Richard McWilliams, Director of Sustainability, said: “With the backing of the GLA and BEIS, both the new centre of excellence and Innovation Partnership will establish high standards for comprehensive, whole-house retrofit.”