The Warm Homes Plan aims to install 450,000 pumps annually by 2030. As of October 2025, 1,801 companies certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme employed an average of 4.8 installers each, totalling about 8,650 accredited heat pump installers. The UK’s independent Climate Change Committee targets 40,165 trained heat pump installers by 2030, requiring the workforce to grow nearly fivefold in the next four years.

In addition, Energy UK’s report, Clean heat: jobs and skills for the future, states that high electricity costs limit demand for low-carbon heat technologies, which in turn will restrict investment in training before the Warm Homes Plan is fully implemented. The report notes that most heating employers are sole traders or micro-businesses that lack the capital to invest in training without market certainty.

Experts within the industry emphasise that framing this challenge as an employment opportunity is the key to solving it. Energy UK Head of Industrial Strategy Rachel Cary said: ‘The Warm Homes Plan is a chance to bring down bills, strengthen our energy security and create thousands of jobs across the UK, but it all rests on a skilled workforce to deliver it. Unless we act now, a skills shortage risks being a bottleneck to delivery. More than a million young people are not in employment, education or training, but with the right support, the transition to low-carbon energy can bring a diverse range of good, well-paid jobs while lowering bills and boosting growth.’

To bridge this gap and tap into that potential workforce, the report suggests changes to policies. The trade body recommends that the government provide low-cost loans or bursaries for retraining and expand the Heat Training Grant to include advanced courses. The report also calls for reforms to the Growth and Skills Levy to increase apprenticeships, tax incentives for near-retirement engineers to mentor new entrants and low-carbon heat awareness programmes in schools.

If these workforce interventions are implemented and the government’s rollout is successful, the Heat Pump Association UK says that the gross value added from manufacturing, installing and operating residential space heating appliances could increase from £12.2bn today to £22.5bn by 2035. This growth could support 143,000 full-time jobs by 2035, with about 140,000 roles focused on heat pumps, according to the association.

While long-term growth hangs in the balance, concrete financial steps are already being taken on the ground. As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced a £40.6mn investment on 20 May 2026 to upgrade heat networks and install low-carbon systems in England and Wales. The allocation includes £15.6mn to upgrade 94 old heat networks across England and Wales, replacing leaking pipes, insulating pipework and replacing home interface units to improve energy efficiency for more than 10,000 residents, hospitals and charities.

A portion of this cash injection has already been earmarked for regional infrastructure projects: the government distributed a £25mn share to four specific projects, including £13.5mn to expand the Bristol City Leap heat network using heat pumps, which the government states will create more than 1,000 jobs, apprenticeships and work placements. Rochdale received £1mn to build a heat network extracting heat from a sewer to supply public buildings, schools and social housing, while the Green Heat Network Fund allocated £8.6mn to the King’s Cross Heating and Cooling Network and £2.2mn to a waste-heat project in Atherstone.

Officials view these early local investments as steps towards broader geopolitical and financial resilience. Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey said: ‘The conflict in the Middle East has shown once again why we must get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and onto low-carbon, homegrown power we control. Heat networks will play a role in that shift, lowering bills for whole communities while strengthening our energy security.’