It is estimated that there are approximately 500,000 listed buildings in England, nearly 4.5 million historic dwellings (defined as built before 1919) with in addition approximately 500,000 historic commercial buildings (also pre 1919) making a total of 5,000,000 pre-1919 historic buildings.

Throughout the UK the building industry has an annual turnover of nearly £150 billion with conservation and restoration of historic buildings estimated to account for approximately £3.5 billion (2.3%), of which £1.7 billion (1.1%) is on listed buildings. The particularly interesting statistic is that repair, maintenance and improvement is by far the largest type of work undertaken and contributes approximately 50% of the total or £75 billion per annum. This is very good news for skilled conservation craftsmen and women, as their high skills can be equally well applied to providing high quality repair and maintenance, vastly increasing the potential market for their skills. However because there is such a shortage of these skills in the heritage sector currently they are likely to be fully utilised on conservation work.

The UK construction industry employs more than 2.1 million people, 1.8 million excluding electrical and plumbing with just under 250,000 employed in professional consultancy work.

It is estimated that the need for skilled craftsmen in building conservation is a total of approximately 90,000. This will require an additional 6,500 craftsmen per annum for the foreseeable future in order to replace retirees and those leaving for other reasons such as moving into management. Particular shortages have been identified in some trades such as bricklaying, stonemasonry, carpentry and lead-work which will require an additional 500 whilst other trades less. The difference will be reflected in the provision of training locally, regionally and nationally to counteract these shortages.