Scotland’s transition to a low-carbon economy represents one of the country’s greatest economic opportunities. Billions of pounds are being invested in electricity networks, offshore and onshore wind, pumped storage hydro and green hydrogen.

But beyond these flagship projects lies an opportunity to maximise their impact by ensuring this investment creates a lasting legacy for communities.

New analysis the Scottish Futures Trust commissioned from BiGGAR Economics estimates that accommodating the transient construction workforce needed to deliver the Highlands and Islands’ energy pipeline could cost around £1.3bn by 2040 - around 2% of the region’s projected energy infrastructure investment.

The significance of this figure lies not just in its scale, but in what it represents. Without a coordinated approach, much of this spending risks flowing into temporary accommodation, missing the opportunity to deliver lasting economic benefits for the communities hosting nationally significant projects.

The workforce will need somewhere to stay. The real question is whether Scotland can use this unprecedented investment to address housing challenges that have persisted for decades.

Demand is already building. Delivering the Highlands and Islands’ energy pipeline will require thousands of construction workers over the next 15 years. While local people will play a vital role, experience shows that many workers will come from elsewhere, creating sustained demand for accommodation well into the 2030s. The same is true in the rural south of Scotland.

Yet the current approach remains reactive. Individual projects compete for limited hotel and B&B capacity, often displacing visitors in regions where tourism is a cornerstone of the economy and housing supply is already constrained. The result is rising accommodation costs, recruitment difficulties, pressure on local services and growing concern within communities. These are no longer side issues - they are becoming risks to delivering major infrastructure.

The challenge is likely to intensify as construction faces an ageing workforce, increasing reliance on workers recruited from outside the region.

But this demand also presents a significant opportunity.

The accommodation needed for the energy transition is not simply a cost; it represents a dependable revenue stream. For housing providers and investors, guaranteed occupancy over four or five years can make developments financially viable that might otherwise never proceed.

Workers could occupy new homes during the energy infrastructure construction phase, providing secure income that underpins housing development. Once projects are complete, those homes would remain as affordable, social, mid-market or private housing, depending on local need. Rather than disappearing with the workforce, the investment would leave behind stronger communities, an expanded housing supply and greater economic resilience. The proof for this concept has been provided by SSEN Transmission’s housing strategy over the last two years.

This is the legacy housing model the Scottish Futures Trust is developing with partners across the public and private sectors. Instead of treating workforce accommodation as a temporary logistical challenge, it becomes part of a broader placemaking strategy that aligns infrastructure investment with community development.

Timing will be critical. Housing takes years to plan and deliver. If solutions are not in place before demand peaks in the late 2020s, developers will inevitably rely on temporary accommodation, and the opportunity to create a lasting housing legacy will be lost.

Scotland has a rare opportunity: a long-term infrastructure pipeline capable of supporting both the energy transition and meaningful housing delivery. The £1.3bn question is whether that money is spent on temporary beds that disappear when construction ends, or on homes that remain for generations. If the energy transition is to leave a genuine legacy, housing must become part of the infrastructure strategy itself.