Why retrofit deserves a bigger place in the skills agenda
By Stephen Tracey
Chair of the National Home Decarbonisation Group’s Green Skills Working Group and Divisional Manager for Net Zero Carbon Retrofit at Wates Group
The Warm Homes Skills Programme (WHSP) is an £8 million grant initiative aimed at funding subsidised training in retrofit skills through colleges and training providers. This is a welcome and timely investment, but is it enough to prepare a retrofit-ready workforce for the future?
The aims of the WHSP are clear:
- Expand competence and capacity in the retrofit sector by training installers and professionals in delivering energy-efficient upgrades.
- Support accredited training aligned with PAS and MCS standards, boosting the number of skilled workers in the field.
- Offer clearer pathways into retrofit careers, aligned with government-led energy efficiency schemes.
- Help training providers scale up high-quality delivery by demonstrating demand and supporting course development.
- Collect vital insights into supply chain needs to guide future policy and targeted interventions.
Given the need to upgrade existing homes to meet net zero and deliver cross-tenure requirements for households to reach EPC C by 2030, the need for skilled retrofit professionals is only growing. Yet, the bulk of public funding is being prioritised for construction skills with £600 million allocated this year.
Some in the industry are asking: "If many training programmes still focus exclusively on traditional trades, how many actually prepare learners for retrofit careers?"
Broad concerns include:
- The need for alignment on funding across traditional construction needs, retrofit roles and retrofit upskilling.
- Retrofit historically being siloed and treated as a ‘bolt on’ to mainstream construction rather than an integral part of it.
- The knowledge gap for retrofit skills in the construction sector.
- The perception of what retrofit roles are and what they entail with many students and even educators lacking understanding.
Retrofit is quickly becoming one of the most significant growth areas within the built environment. It requires its own career pathways, qualification frameworks and teaching capacity. But most colleges still lack the resources – and at times the confidence – to deliver it effectively.
There’s an untapped opportunity to draw young people into retrofit careers. Many retrofit-focused firms are scaling rapidly and outperforming more traditional sectors. But to make the most of this momentum, we need strategy, coordination and clarity.
Reframing Retrofit
Through the National Home Decarbonisation Group’s Green Skills Working Group, we’re working to embed retrofit into mainstream construction training – from curriculum design to industry placements. Below is a summary of our thinking:
- Retrofit is a broad and dynamic sector that spans everything from low-carbon technologies to data-driven building assessments.
- Retrofit is critical for meeting net zero targets and maintaining the long-term performance and resilience in our housing stock.
- Continual upgrades will be needed to realise net zero and decarbonise homes at scale meaning the rate of innovation is high in the sector.
- There is a huge opportunity to offer exciting career paths with space for school leavers, career changers, and experienced tradespeople alike.
- Future housing policies and funding mechanisms should treat retrofit expertise as a baseline requirement.
There are encouraging signs of change. More colleges are introducing green skills modules, and the WHSP should accelerate this. But retrofit must move from the margins to the mainstream.
At present, many vocational programmes focus on conventional new-build methods. We need to ask: why is retrofit still the exception rather than the rule?
The WHSP, supported by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered through the Midlands Net Zero Hub, is a positive move. It focuses on the very people who will retrofit the UK’s housing – those installing everything from solar PV to high-efficiency insulation. But a single initiative, however well-meaning, won’t be sufficient.
To hit net zero, we need to reframe retrofit as a core component of national housing strategy. We’ll need not only thousands of skilled retrofit workers but also sustained investment in their training and career development. Because retrofit isn’t a side project – it’s the future of our built environment. And it’s time we recognised that.
