Construction industry cannot rely on foreign workers, says housing minister
The UK will need thousands of additional construction workers if it is to hit the Government’s target of building 1.5 million homes.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Britain cannot rely on overseas construction workers to deliver the Government’s target of building 1.5 million homes, the housing minister has said.
While acknowledging that foreign workers would “play a role” in construction, Matthew Pennycook said on Friday that vacancies in the industry would have to be filled by “people that live in this country”.
According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the UK needs an extra 250,000 construction workers by 2028 in order to meet demand.
At the same time, businesses are struggling to recruit after 120,000 foreign workers went home during the pandemic and immigration restrictions saw the proportion of migrants in the sector fall slightly to just under 10%.
In March 2023, the previous government expanded the shortage occupation list to include more construction jobs, but Mr Pennycook said this had not “made a huge difference”.
He told Times Radio on Friday that the struggle to recruit foreign construction workers “speaks to some of the foundational importance of migration as part of the plan for change”.
The minister said: “We’ve got to do more to upskill our own workforce, to ensure that those training places, those apprenticeships and ultimately those jobs are coming from people that live in this country to fill those vacancies.
“You can’t rely wholly on an overseas workforce.”
His comments follow the Prime Minister’s inclusion of a housebuilding target as one of his six “milestones” that he wants his Government to be judged on.
That target – described by Mr Pennycook as “stretching but achievable” – involves building 300,000 homes per year, something that has not been done since the 1970s.
But with the CITB estimating the construction industry needs to recruit 50,300 workers a year over the next five years, the housebuilding target could come into conflict with the Government’s aim of reducing migration.
Mr Pennycook stressed the need to train British workers, pointing to the investment of £140 million in 32 home building skills hubs.
He added: “This has got to be a cross-government effort on the skills agenda, and construction skills in particular, because it involves a series of challenges around training, around local labour markets.”