Decarbonising UK homes is one of the hardest challenges on the way to Net Zero.

Buildings account for almost 20% of UK carbon emissions, mainly the result of using fossil fuels for space and water heating – yet it is not a one size fits all approach.

With some of the oldest and most energy inefficient housing stock in Europe¹ and about 90% of  existing homes expected to still be in use in 2050, the UK has the task of upgrading a large percentage of the UK’s 29 million homes – perhaps 26 million homes.

Millions of individual retrofit interventions need to be coordinated nationally, regionally and locally. The size of the problem is enormous, and currently there are not enough tradespeople with relevant skills to carry out the work at the scale required.

By doing nothing, the domestic retrofit sector will remain fragmented, delivering insufficient and poor-quality installations for consumers, and the UK will fail to meet the government’s 2050 net zero target.

Our research suggests training approaches should consider all aspects of decarbonisation, including advice, assessment, commercial models, coordination and installation.