The National House Building Council (NHBC) has warned the government will fail to meet its home building targets without urgent action to expand the workforce needed to complete the work.
NHBC chief operating officer David Campbell has said the government’s targets will be difficult to achieve without a ‘significant and sustained expansion’ of the house-building workforce, with at leasts 250,000 extra construction workers needed to meet current demand.
‘Without a significant increase in the workforce, scaling up the volume of quality new homes will be incredibly challenging’, Campbell said.
“More than 250,000 extra construction workers will be needed by 2028 just to meet the current demand, let alone build more new homes. That’s why we must get moving now. You can’t create a skilled workforce overnight.”
Campbell welcomed recent government initiatives to support home building, including a £625m investment in construction skills, the creation of the Construction Skills Mission Board and a £3 billion apprenticeship budget. However, he stressed that collaboration between government and industry is essential to deliver both quality and quantity.
The NHBC’s recent report into quality standards highlighted the link between building at scale and a reduction in customer satisfaction, and Campbell argues a strong supply of skilled workers is key to breaking the cycle.
He added:
“Together, with continued collaboration, we can build the homes this country needs and ensure they are built to the highest standards.”
The NHBC is widening its apprenticeship training network and investing £100 million into 12 new multi-skill training hubs across the UK. Each hub will train around 3,000 new apprenticeships each year in the most needed trades. ‘At NHBC, we’re committed to being part of the solution’, Campbell said.
“That’s why we’re heavily investing in practical, long-term training initiatives to help build the skilled workforce our industry urgently needs.”
