A terraced house in Leicester is to get a £150,000 refit in an experiment to see if its energy consumption can be cut by 80%.

The two-bedroom house will have insulation fitted to internal walls, the main living area will be moved upstairs and a pod bedroom will be installed in the loft.

The house is owned by East Midlands Housing Association and its property refurbishment officer Tarif Javid said the work to the loft was the most challenging part of the project.

“It is not a traditional loft conversion. We are creating a pod in a factory, which will be created in the shape of the roof space ­- a triangular shape – and manufactured to very high energy efficiency standards. We aim to bring that on a crane and literally remove the roof, drop the pod in and put the roof back.”

Tenants will be brought in to test the house and successful elements will be rolled out to other properties.

The scheme is funded by a central government project to improve the energy efficiency of social housing and is being conducted in partnership with De Montfort University.