Kate Nottidge, Social Impact Director, Grosvenor 

The UK’s ageing building stock is one of the most urgent challenges facing the property sector. Retrofitting it by upgrading insulation, heating systems and fabric to meet net zero targets, will require a workforce we do not yet have. The roles that will deliver this are what the government and industry broadly call “green jobs”: positions in energy efficiency, retrofit, sustainable construction and low-carbon building management. A recent report from the Green Jobs Foundation found that such roles pay 16% more than the UK average, offer higher job satisfaction and strong career progression.  

Good news - but there’s a catch.  

The same report found that most green jobs require a level of qualification that many do not have - around half sit at occupational Level 3 or above (the equivalent of A-Levels, T-Levels, advanced apprenticeships) yet 17% of working-age adults in the UK do not hold a Level 2 qualification or above, meaning these roles can be out of reach for those furthest from the labour market. Without deliberate action, the green transition risks deepening inequality rather than reducing it.  

The scale of the opportunity, and the problem  

Retrofit is the bedrock of the UK's net zero ambitions, and billions are being invested in it across the country. Our Retrofit or Ruin report, published earlier this year, found that enabling heritage retrofit at scale could generate around £35bn in economic output annually and support 205,000 jobs. Yet the workforce simply isn't there to deliver it. Research we published alongside The Crown Estate and the National Trust in 2023 found that 205,000 workers are needed to focus solely on retrofitting historic buildings every year from now until 2050 - more than double our current estimated capacity.  

Routes into Retrofit  

Westminster is the London borough with the highest concentration of heritage buildings, and also one of its most economically divided. One in eight residents have no formal qualifications (rising to more than one in four in the most deprived areas), and unemployment in parts of the borough runs at more than three times the average for England.  

Since 2020, Grosvenor has been investing millions in retrofitting our historic estate in Westminster. That work gave rise to Routes into Retrofit, a six-month supported employment programme, developed with charity partner Groundwork. The programme pays previously unemployed trainees the London Living Wage and places them with contractors in our supply chain, with the goal of transitioning them into permanent roles on completion.  

Our pilot has concluded with resoundingly positive feedback from both trainees and contractors alike. Two thirds of the 80+ Westminster residents we’ve funded supported employment programmes for have gone on to secure long-term employment. The evidence is clear: to genuinely support those furthest from the labour market, you need to invest in wraparound support for both the trainee and the employer.  

Part of something bigger  

Routes into Retrofit is a key part of Positive Futures, Grosvenor's new £5 million commitment to provide support, skills and meaningful work opportunities to over 3,000 people in Westminster by 2030. By mobilising our supply chain, spaces and networks to create fairer pathways into good work we can widen access to opportunity across the borough. 

The really exciting thing about Routes into Retrofit is the potential to scale it across the sector. We now have a tried-and-tested model for creating entry-level roles in a sector that desperately needs workers. With a specialist employment partner sitting across multiple supply chains, we can curate long-term career pathways that transcend individual contractors and projects, addressing one of the sector's persistent weaknesses: fragmented, short-term employment.  

There is plenty of talk about green jobs. What we need now is action that puts the people who need it most at the front of the queue.  

Published first in Property Week.