North East needs 7,000 more construction workers by 2028 to meet housebuilding target

The Government wants to see 1.5 million new homes built across the country during the current Parliament. 

But councillors in Newcastle were told this week that achieving that ambition will require a major drive to attract, train, and retain more workers in the construction trade.

A particular shortage of roofers, joiners, and bricklayers was highlighted to Newcastle City Council’s economy, jobs and skills scrutiny committee on Monday.

The Construction Skills Network (CSN) reports that 251,500 extra workers will be required nationally to meet UK construction output by 2028 – including 6,850 in the North East.

Geraldine Cunningham, the council’s economic development officer, said that more needed to be done in schools to remove the outdated perception that going into the building trade was “for under-achieving kids” and instead promote it as a skilled and potentially high-earning career.

She added: “It is generally perceived that if you get poor GCSEs you would go into constriction work, and that is not the case.”

Ms Cunningham reported that the construction industry was suffering as a result of a lack of young people going into the trade and poor retention of existing staff.

She said that around 7,000 workers are recruited in the North East construction industry each year – but slightly more leave the trade in the same time, so workforce levels are actually dipping and there are thousands of vacancies that need filling.

According to labour market analytics firm Lightcast, there have been 4,734 unique vacancies posted in the construction sector in the North East in the last 12 months and 1,476 in Newcastle alone. 

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) also reports that around 33,000 people started construction apprenticeships in Britain in 2023/24, with only 21% of construction businesses employing an apprentice and just one in ten employing more than one.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves recently announced £600 million of investment to train up 60,000 more skilled construction workers by 2029 and fund 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges.

Labour has also pledged to open 32 Homebuilding Skills Hubs to deliver fast-track apprenticeships that can be completed in 12 to 18 months.

Newcastle is already home to a  National House Building Council (NHBC) Construction Hub in Scotswood, where bricklaying and groundworks apprenticeships are delivered.

Ms Cunningham said: “With the Government’s commitment to building 1.5 million extra homes, it is vital we have a workforce that is competent and trained to make the most of the future opportunities. For the North East, without this we won’t have the volume of homes we need and the infrastructure required to help the economy to thrive or to tackle the retrofit challenge

“The UK Construction industry has an ageing workforce and many employers have failed to invest enough in training, upskilling and retention. There has also been a reluctance to offer work experience opportunities, engage with local schools to encourage young people to consider construction as a potential career or offer apprenticeships to new entrants into the industry.”

Visit NewcastleWorld’s newsletter page to sign up for our great range of news and sport emails

Labour councillor Rob Higgins, who represents Benwell and Scotswood, said he had been  “surprised at how much you can earn” in the trade and that the financial rewards on offer should be promoted to schoolchildren.

He added: “If you are competing against other occupations, that is what you need to have – it is a clear incentive.”

Have you got a story you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at https://www.yourworld.net/submit/ It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.