Overlooking the role of migrant workers will be the death of our housebuilding ambitions
Labour’s pledge to get Britain building again is encouraging, but we can’t reach their targets without construction workers – and, crucially, immigration, writes Haman Manak
Out of all the sectors addressed in Labour’s early days of government, housebuilding has been one of the big winners. Starmer and co have promised to build 1.5m homes over their term, smash the planning deadlock and “get Britain building again”.
On the face of it, it doesn’t really get any better. For the last 18 months, it’s been a tough time for housebuilding and construction – there have been insolvencies, meagre activity stats and unflattering margins. The economic climate really bruised the sector. A government-backed kickstart is definitely welcome.
But there’s a catch. Under all these promises, the government seems to have missed another issue biting away at our growth. Our worker shortage.
At the moment, we simply don’t have enough workers to meet Labour’s targets. We have lost nearly 300,000 construction workers since 2019 – and, worse still, the a major industry body, has predicted we’ll need over 250,000 more workers to meet industry output over the next five years. If you ask me, the 1.5m target all seems a bit too unrealistic.
But Sir Keir has assured the nation that he’s on the case. He’s recently announced a big, nationwide skills upgrade to get more boots on the ground and quell any outcries from industry. He hopes this initiative will get sectors the skills and apprentices they need, and prevent them from becoming collateral damage in new immigration controls. At the end of the day, Starmer wants to lessen our reliance on “importing skills”.
Look, I’m all for getting more young people into the sector – there’s no doubt about that. But let’s say we do manage to increase the number of apprentices in the sector: they’ll still need years of training and oversight from more experienced talent, meaning our workforce in the short term will still lack the bulk it needs. Not to mention that bringing in 250,000 plus apprentices is just way too far fetched.
And that’s the issue – no matter how much I admire Starmer’s plan, it’s ultimately still a long-term vision. Even the construction workforce, which boasts some of the most diligent and hard-working people you’ll meet, will be overstretched under Labour’s big housebuilding revival. And that’s after freeing up those who would have been hard at the task on the cancelled Stonehenge Tunnel and Arundel bypass projects, too.
And that leads me to my main point.
Migrants are vital to the UK’s construction and housebuilding sectors – both on and off sites. As part of the family business, I’ve been on construction sites all my life, chatting to people from Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, South Asia, and more from all across the globe. These people are a real backbone of the workforce in our country’s built environment – and real bastions of the world-class construction projects the UK undertakes today.
Overlooking them or, of course, overlooking the extent of our worker shortage really threatens Labour’s housebuilding ambitions. It’s a true make-or-break situation.
Let me reiterate – Starmer’s skills upgrade is a good initiative. But it’s no miracle antidote and certainly no silver bullet.
That’s why I’d implore the government to better consider our situation in housebuilding and construction – especially as they implement their immigration controls.
Labour has taken bold steps in its housebuilding revival, including tackling both the planning deadlock and environmental rules, but this worker shortage risks all that effort going to waste.
Short-term, speedy solutions to this issue are a must. If the government really wants to “get Britain building again”, they have to set their sights on ensuring the size and stability of our workforce.
Haman Manak is the procurement director at Stanmore