In today’s Spring Statement the Chancellor announced that the OBR has found that government’s planning reforms will lead to housebuilding reaching a 40-year high, with changes to the National Planning Policy Framework helping to build over 1.3m homes over the next five years.

The OBR has concluded that planning reforms will permanently increase the level of GDP by 0.4% in the next 10 years, bringing an additional £15.1bn to the economy. The Chancellor also outlined plans to train up to 60,000 more construction workers by 2029 to meet housing targets.

Kelly Boorman, partner and Head of Construction at RSM UK, comments: “Today’s announcement signals that the government is continuing to prioritise housebuilding as a lever for long-term economic growth, with renewed focus on addressing the construction industry’s labour shortage. We know the industry sees Skills England as helpful in addressing workforce shortages*, yet less than a third think the government will achieve its target of building 1.5m homes during its five-year term in parliament, with workforce shortages cited as a key barrier.

“Although commitment to training 60,000 construction workers is a step in the right direction, there remains a massive gap to fill given the industry is reliant on manual workers and has an aging workforce. With planning reforms expected to accelerate housebuilding and increase GDP by 0.4% in the next 10 years, it’s essential training and upskilling begins now to tackle the labour shortage.

“In addition, the transition towards modern methods of construction over the next few decades will mean greater focus on technology to innovate and build more efficiently. The role of new technologies therefore needs to be embedded in training, while also incentivising construction businesses to invest in technology to ensure housing targets are realised and boost economic growth.”

* Findings from our Real Estate 360 survey showed that:

• 50% of property businesses said that Skills England will help to address workforce shortages in the industry.
• Less than a third (31%) think the government will achieve its target of building 1.5 million homes during their five-year term in parliament.
• A quarter (25%) cited a shortage of skilled workers as the biggest barrier to meeting housebuilding targets going forward.