‘There aren’t enough builders’ for Starmer’s 1.5 million homes in the UK

Industry leaders have warned that Britain does not have enough construction workers to build the 1.5 million homes the government keeps promising.

He told the BBC that thousands of new recruits were needed in bricklaying, earthwork and carpentry to get close to the target.

The Home Builders Federation (HBF), along with Barrett Redrow, the UK’s largest housebuilder, said skills shortages, an aging workforce and Brexit were some of the factors behind the shrinking workforce.

The government confirmed that there is a “serious shortage” of construction workers, but said it was “taking steps to improve” the problem.

Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reiterated a pledge he made shortly after taking power to build 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029.

And on Thursday he unveiled the sweeping Vowed to overhaul the planning system and eliminate “barriers” that stand in the way of new homes being built.

Labor hopes that building more homes will reduce house prices and make buying and renting a home more affordable, especially for young people.

Its target means building an average of 300,000 new homes per year – the average in recent years has been around 220,000.

According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the current workforce is estimated to be 2.67 million.

But according to HBF, the trade body for the house building industry in England and Wales, for every 10,000 new homes built, the sector needs about 30,000 new recruits across 12 trades.

Based on government plans, for example, the estimated number of new workers needed for some common occupations will be:

• 20,000 masons
• 2,400 plumbers
• 8,000 carpenters
• 3,200 plaster
• 20,000 groundworkers
• 1,200 tillers
• 2,400 electricians
• 2,400 roofers
• 480 engineer

HBF said that while the industry “has the capacity to provide current construction levels, thousands of new people will need to be recruited if we are to reach the targets set”.

Asked whether there were currently enough workers to build additional homes, Barrett Redrow chief executive David Thomas said: “The short answer is no.”

He told the BBC that the government would have to “revolutionize the market, revolutionize planning, revolutionize methods of production” to meet its goal.

“Those are challenging targets, I think we have to recognize that this is a national crisis,” Mr Thomas said.

But HBF also said the UK “does not have an adequate talent pipeline” of builders to employ. It cited a number of recruitment barriers, including poor perception and lack of training within schools, not having enough apprenticeships and the cost of taking on apprentices.

The industry body admitted the sector has not “attracted” enough new recruits in recent years.

It says all these factors have resulted in the workforce aging over time, with a quarter of workers over the age of 50.

Barrett Redrow boss Mr Thomas said campaigns over the past decades to encourage young people to pursue further education rather than trade had not helped recruitment.

“If you go back to the ’60s and ’70s, I think parents, teachers and the government were very happy with the idea of ​​people becoming tradesmen, electricians, plumbers, masons,” he said.

The average rates of pay for these jobs “are high” but the issue is “more about the availability of labor with the skills,” he said.

According to government figures, an experienced mason can earn around £45,000 a year, while carpenters are paid around £38,000 and electricians £44,000.

The skills shortage in the UK has been an issue for some time, but in recent decades this gap has been partially bridged with workers from the EU – the recruitment pool has now dried up due to the end of freedom of movement as a result of Brexit. Is.

HBF said that 40 to 50% of skilled workers had also left the industry after the 2008 financial meltdown and that “restrictions” had made it difficult to recruit from abroad.

Mr Thomas said that historically the building sector has recruited large numbers of masons from eastern EU countries, admitting that “ultimately”, the UK has been overly reliant on foreign workers but that this has been “the norm”. .

According to the latest census of the industry, Romania, India and Poland were the most common countries of origin for construction workers from abroad. More than half of London’s construction workforce are EU/EEA citizens.

Last month, the government announced £140 million of funding to create more than 5,000 construction apprenticeship places per year and set up a “Homebuilding Skills Hub” to fast-track training.

A government spokesperson said the skills centers show it wants to “make sure this country takes skilled careers like construction seriously”.

But ministers faced a blow to its plans from local councils, who were charged with implementing the new targets in their areas, who said were “unrealistic” and “impossible to achieve”.

The independent think tank Center for Cities also predicted that homebuilders would fall 388,000 short of the government’s 1.5 million target.

But both Barrett Redrow and HBF have welcomed the government’s plans. HBF said a “more pro-growth policy approach” would enable the industry to “invest in the people and land needed to increase housing supply”.

Despite the hiring challenges, Barrett Redrow plans to hire between 16,600 and 17,200 jobs in the next fiscal year, about 4,000 more than Barrett’s forecast. Before the merger with Redrow In October.