An additional £1 billion of funding towards building social and affordable homes announced in this week’s Budget has been welcomed by insulation specialist Actis
But it adds that while this is excellent news both for those in desperate need of a home and for the construction industry, more investment must be made into developing the current and next generation of builders.
The latest Checkatrade’s annual UK Trade Skills Index report says the nation needs 1.3 million new skilled tradespeople and 350,000 apprentices over a decade to meet housing construction and net-zero targets, with overall demand for skilled tradespeople outpacing supply at a 3-to-1 ratio.
And last autumn, NHBC chief operating officer David Campbell warned that a significant expansion of the housebuilding workforce was vital to enable the government to hit its housebuilding targets.
This week’s Budget announcement brings the total for the ten-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) to more than £40 billion.
The first £9.58 billion of that was allocated last month to 39 housing associations, councils and regions in England, including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, the North East, West Yorkshire, the Liverpool City Region and South Yorkshire.
It will be used to fund the construction of 73,600 homes, with 60% available for social rent.
Actis UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper said: “While this funding will help provide homes for many and employment for the construction industry, further investment in skills training is vital in order to attract the very people who will be able to make this vision a reality.”
