Planning the workforce for warmer homes and Net Zero
Delivering warmer homes, reducing energy bills and meeting Net Zero commitments requires more than retrofit targets and funding. It depends on whether the right skills are available, in the right places, at the right time.
Whole Life Consultants Ltd’s Low Carbon Retrofit Skills Forecasts translate housing energy data into granular, time-phased workforce requirements, showing exactly which occupations are required for different retrofit interventions, how demand evolves over time, and where workforce pressure is most likely to emerge.
The forecasts provide a delivery-ready view of labour demand, supporting realistic planning for retrofit programmes — not just headline targets
Evidence-led forecasts
Drawing on property-level EPC data and industry-validated labour coefficients, the forecasts provide region-specific assessments of:
- the scale of retrofit activity required locally and regionally,
- the mix of skilled occupations needed to deliver different interventions, and
- the timing and intensity of future workforce demand.
By linking retrofit measures directly to occupational demand, the forecasts help decision-makers understand not only how much retrofit is required, but what this means for workforce capacity and skills provision.
What the data shows
North Lanarkshire
Commissioned by North Lanarkshire Council, Whole Life Consultants Ltd quantified the workforce implications of delivering low-carbon retrofit at scale across the local building stock, translating retrofit activity into labour demand across 28 construction occupations. The analysis draws on property-level data and bespoke labour coefficients to reflect both the scale and mix of interventions required.
The findings show that delivering retrofit programmes to support Net Zero targets and improved energy performance in the area would require approximately 29,370 person-years of labour, equivalent to around 5,870 full-time workers over five years, with particular pressure on plumbing, HVAC and electrical installation trades, which are already in high demand. Depending on rollout assumptions, retrofit activity accounts for 17–45% of total construction labour demand, competing directly with the wider construction pipeline for the same workforce. Making this labour requirement explicit provides a robust evidence base to sequence delivery, target skills investment and manage workforce capacity risk, ensuring that policy ambition is matched by deliverable workforce capacity.
The Built Environment Sector Board is now moving ahead in North Lanarkshire with a detailed action plan that maps out the next steps and supports coordinated delivery across partners.
South London
Retrofitting domestic and non-domestic properties in EPC band D and below across the six South London Partnership boroughs will require approximately 66,200 person-years, accounting for up to 46% of total construction labour demand over the next five-year period. Key pressure points: plumbing and HVAC trades, scaffolders and roofers. Read the complete report.
Central London
Analysis of 1.91 million retrofit interventions across twelve Central London boroughs — comprising 1.67 million domestic EPCs and 240,000 non-domestic EPCs — indicates an average annual labour requirement of between 13,000 and 17,000 workers over the next five years.
Labour demand is highly concentrated, with five trades — building-envelope specialists, plumbing and HVAC trades, construction trades supervisors, scaffolders, and roofers — accounting for 62% of total low-carbon workforce needs, highlighting clear pressure-point roles for skills planning and investment.
Social rental properties
In London’s social rented housing stock alone, EPC-recommended improvements require approximately 41,250 person-years of skilled labour, with acute demand for building-envelope specialists, supervisors, scaffolders and roofers. Read the complete report.
Why it matters
Improving energy efficiency at scale is central to delivering warmer homes, reducing household energy costs and meeting Net Zero commitments. However, without a clear understanding of workforce capacity, retrofit programmes risk delay, skills competition and delivery bottlenecks.
The Low Carbon Retrofit Skills Forecasts provide a practical, decision-ready evidence base to support:
- shaping regional skills pipelines,
- aligning training provision with real demand,
- targeting investment in pressure-point occupations, and
- planning credible, deliverable retrofit programmes.