The Government’s bold goals for housebuilding – and changes to the planning system to facilitate a speed-up in delivery – have now been baked into the economic forecasts, with the Treasury banking on £6.8 billion being added to the balance sheet by 2029/30 as a result.
This means that the imperative to get things moving towards the 1.5 million new homes target has now become critical.
As policymakers and those across the housing industry know, delivering the scale of new homes the country urgently needs requires more than just planning reform. A range of other elements must also function smoothly including land supply, buyer financing, supply chains, utilities, and digital connectivity, to name just a few.
Perhaps the most important element however is the skilled workers on and off-site, without whom homes literally cannot be built. Our new survey of MPs reveals that two-thirds of those sitting in Westminster do not believe that the UK workforce has the skills in place to deliver 1.5 million homes. The survey of 108 MPs, carried out by Cluttons and YouGov, showed that only 15% of MPs believe the workforce currently has the skills, while 19% of MPs didn’t know. More than half (53%) of Labour MPs said the skills were currently not in place.
When we look at the numbers, the scale of the problem becomes stark. For every 10,000 new homes built the sector needs around 30,000 new recruits, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF). Around a quarter of a million additional workers are needed across the sector as a whole, including 20,000 additional bricklayers and nearly 5,000 electricians and plumbers. With many skilled workers nearing retirement and post-Brexit rules limiting overseas labour, maintaining a steady pipeline of new recruits is absolutely essential.
Policymakers and the housebuilding industry are making moves, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall recently attending an inaugural Construction Skills Mission Board. This saw an industry commitment to recruit 100,000 additional construction workers every year by the end of the Parliament. The £100 million funding announced at the event will support 40,000 roles, alongside £32 million from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). This support is very welcome, but there are 6.8 billion reasons why the Government might want to ensure they are fully behind the push for more workers into the housebuilding sector.
There are two more critical factors when it comes to skills. First, the flexibility of the current route into trades, especially via apprenticeships. There are complaints that for SME housebuilders, who do not have large HR resources, running apprenticeships can be more challenging. Is it time to make apprenticeships more flexible?
The second factor is the changing needs of the construction sector given the rapidly evolving technological changes happening across the country. This was outlined clearly in the recent Infrastructure Strategy, which said that the country would now take a ‘digital first’ approach to large infrastructure projects, including housebuilding.
Additional focus on sustainable development and energy efficient homes (and I can’t pass up the opportunity to call again for clarification on the new EPC deadlines for residential property) means that the types of skills needed in the housebuilding sector are also evolving. Alongside the important ‘traditional’ building skills listed above, there are now expanded requirements for experts in energy efficient design, and the new materials that help deliver this. Likewise, software specialists who can simulate and assess the energy performance of buildings, and experts in installing renewable energy sources such as solar panels and heat pumps will be in great demand.
Indeed, the overall digitisation of all processes within the housebuilding sector means more roles with transferable skills, and where there might also be a wider appeal for younger workers. But competition for these workers will be fierce. For example, the energy sector also has a significant skills gap, with a need for new workers with construction, design and digital qualifications.
Housebuilders have to sharpen their elbows to make sure they are at the front of the queue when it comes to attracting talent, outlining the positives a career in the sector can deliver, and this is something we can all support them to do.
Download the latest research report from Cluttons here
