The Government have pledged to build 1.5m new homes but they can’t do that without scaffolding and unfortunately they don’t have any scaffolders
Britain’s house-building plans have been pole-axed – by a shortage of scaffolders. The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation said 6,000 new workers were needed a month to keep construction projects on track and plug a skills gap as older staff retire.
The shortage will hit the Government’s pledge to build 1.5m homes before the next election.
The construction sector will have to boost housebuilding to levels not seen in 50 years to meet the new homes promise – requiring a wave of additional pole experts.
There are already shortages of skilled scaffolders, the confederation has warned. Chief executive Clive Dickin said ‘talent is a real problem’ and the UK is on a cliff edge with 7% of the workforce expected to retire by 2029.
He said even though the housebuilding industry was grappling with a slowdown in activity ‘we still have that underlying shortage of scaffolders right now’.
There are just under 34,000 scaffolders currently working in the UK, according to data provider Ibis World.
David Parry, a senior parliamentary and public affairs officer at the Chartered Institute of Building, said: “The shortage of scaffolders is a prime example of the skills and worker shortages being faced across every aspect of the construction industry.
“We have long said these shortages will most certainly impact delivery of the Government’s housing and infrastructure targets.”
A spokesman said the Government was ‘taking decisive action to tackle years of underinvestment in skills by investing £625m to attract and train the next generation of construction workers including scaffolders’.
But the Government is facing a fresh housebuilding setback in London.
As part of its plan to build 300,000 new homes-a-year nationwide it wants to create 88,000 annually in London.
But work began on just 5,547 homes last year.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed and London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan have drawn up a set of emergency rules designed to boost figures.
They include shrinking the proportion of affordable homes required for a site from 35% to 20%.
But Lord Bailey of Paddington, housing representative for City Hall Conservatives, said: “Arguing about the percentage of houses which are subsided is worthless if nothing happens – 100% of nothing is nothing.
“Every delay is another family left in temporary accommodation or struggling under sky-high housing costs”.
A spokesman for the mayor said the package of measures he has introduced will accelerate London housebuilding.
“The Mayor’s plans are bold, unashamedly pro-housebuilding, and respond directly to many of the concerns expressed by the housebuilding sector,” they said.
“The Mayor makes no apology for wanting to see more action on housebuilding as a matter of urgency.”
A Housing Department spokesman said: “We remain absolutely committed to our emergency package to build more homes in London, including affordable housing.”