CAQA Groups’ Post

Despite increasing housing demand, supply constraints have led to a shortage of new dwellings. KPMG Australia reports 37,074 dwellings remain 'approved but not yet commenced'. But if the population is increasing, why has supply not kept up? 1. The cost of building materials increased between 2020 and 2022 thanks to lockdown-era shortages, though they have now stabilised. 2. A high rate of insolvencies among construction companies. 2,632 businesses entered external administration in the year to March 2024, according to Ray White. 3. High interest rates challenge developers and reduce buyers’ purchasing power.  4. Labour shortages have also slowed building completions, prompting the federal government to fund TAFE apprenticeships and calls to add construction labour to the skilled visa list. 5. Building approvals are declining, with a 2.2% drop year-on-year as of March 2024. But there are still A-grade properties to be found to suit your budget and needs. Plus, with population demands increasing, rental properties will be needed more than ever. 

With recent news highlighting the challenges in delivering housing in the UK, here are a few key points to consider: The Problem: Urgent Need for Houses - Government Goal: Build 1.5 million homes over five years (300,000 annually) with planning reforms, green belt land availability, and mandatory housing targets. - Shortfall: In the past two years, housebuilding fell short by 130,000 homes, missing the 235,000 annual target. The Problem: Lack of Skilled Workers - Construction Demand: The industry needs around 225,000 new workers by 2027. - Recruitment Gap: By 2026, the UK must recruit about 266,000 additional workers, approximately 53,200 annually—a 23.7% increase from previous estimates. The problem simplified in 3 graphs. Solutions to Address the Housing Crisis - Mandatory Housing Targets: Establish consistent housebuilding targets. - Planning Reforms: Streamline planning regulations. - Education and Apprenticeships: Invest in programs to attract and train new talent. - Offsite Construction: Enhance the role of offsite construction to meet targets efficiently and address the skilled labour shortage. These steps are essential to create a sustainable solution to the housing crisis by boosting home construction and ensuring a skilled workforce. 🏠🔧👷♂️ #HousingCrisis #Construction #WorkforceDevelopment #OffsiteConstruction

Despite increasing housing demand, supply constraints have led to a shortage of new dwellings. KPMG Australia reports 37,074 dwellings remain 'approved but not yet commenced'. But if the population is increasing, why has supply not kept up? 1. The cost of building materials increased between 2020 and 2022 thanks to lockdown-era shortages, though they have now stabilised. 2. A high rate of insolvencies among construction companies. 2,632 businesses entered external administration in the year to March 2024, according to Ray White. 3. High interest rates challenge developers and reduce buyers’ purchasing power.  4. Labour shortages have also slowed building completions, prompting the federal government to fund TAFE apprenticeships and calls to add construction labour to the skilled visa list. 5. Building approvals are declining, with a 2.2% drop year-on-year as of March 2024. But there are still A-grade properties to be found to suit your budget and needs. Plus, with population demands increasing, rental properties will be needed more than ever. 

For housing experts understanding the four horsemen of the housing apocalypse - interest rates, labour shortage, regulation and construction costs is important. So the The Globe and Mail’s front page this weekend is a good read on labour shortages. Couple of things to note: (1) only 2.9% of new immigrants are tradespeople. (WHAT!?) I wish that were a misplaced decimal so it read 29%, but its not. (2) in this light, how important are apprenticeship programs or creating pathways to the trades like Blue Door’S Construct program? Very. Very. #affordablehousing

Thank you Building Design. for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on how the UK's built environment sector can better inspire the next generation to enter the industry. Ben Flatman, thanks for your insightful summary below and for pitching this article as a "must read for anyone invested in the future of the construction and the built environment sectors..."! #BuiltEnvironmentGCSE #Inspiring #NextGen

In the news | NI public housing workloads rising at fastest rate in two years   Construction workloads in Northern Ireland were broadly flat through the second quarter of the year but public housing workloads rose at the fastest rate in two years and faster than all the subsectors, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Construction Monitor.   Carolyn Brady, Partner at RLB and RICS Northern Ireland regional board member was featured in Insider Media, commenting on how surveyors remain optimistic about workloads over the next 12 months amid economic challenges that the industry continues to navigate through.   “The welcome return of the NI Executive earlier this year is supporting the boost in public sector housing activity, which is much needed to serve our local communities. Whilst surveyors across Northern Ireland continue to report on shortages in skilled workers, it’s less so than seen previously, which is easing some of the pressures faced by the industry. As an industry, we’re continuing to work to overcome the skills shortages and attract the next generation of employees to the sector by working with schools and colleges and engaging with students who are considering surveying as a career.”   Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/eRHwvfwq   #NorthernIreland #PublicHousing #RLB #CreatingABetterTomorrow

The Construction Skills Crisis: The (Not So) Hidden Obstacle to Building More Homes In the current climate of housing shortages, government planning reforms aim to fast-track approvals and unlock much-needed developments. Yet, a silent crisis is undermining these efforts: the construction skills shortage. While politicians and developers celebrate the latest tweaks to planning laws, the cold truth remains that without the skilled workforce needed to implement these plans, the housing crisis will only deepen. Recent government initiatives, including the reinstatement of compulsory housing targets, are a step in the right direction to meet the target of 1.5 million new homes over five years. However, who will build them? The construction industry is grappling with a severe skills gap, one that no amount of planning reform can fix alone. According to the Federation of Master Builders, the shortage of skilled workers—bricklayers, electricians, carpenters, and more is worse than ever While the government focuses on unlocking land, it seems to be ignoring the most critical part of the equation: workforce development. Training programs, apprenticeships, and investment in the next generation of tradespeople are simply not keeping pace with demand. Without addressing this shortage, any attempt to ramp up housebuilding will stall, leading to further delays, rising costs, and continued housing affordability. The private sector has been slow to invest in skills training, preferring to rely on short-term fixes like overseas workers. Post-Brexit immigration challenges have compounded this issue, leaving fewer workers available. But outsourcing talent isn’t a sustainable solution - it’s time for developers to prioritise investment in skills training as a long-term strategy. The question we should be asking is: What are we going to do about it?. More policy attention must be placed on expanding apprenticeship schemes and incentivising younger generations to enter the construction industry. Government and private sector collaboration is urgently needed to ensure that new planning policies can be translated into actual housing delivery. Until then, the conversation about housing reform is incomplete. Skills shortages are the hidden obstacle standing in the way of hitting development targets, and unless this issue is addressed head-on, the housing crisis will persist. #SkillsShortage #ConstructionCrisis #UKHousing #PlanningReform #Apprenticeships #HousingCrisis

Never mind a must-read for anyone invested in the future of construction but a must-read for education leaders who first want to know where the curriculum needs to go if Labour is going to deliver on building our way to a growing economy and meeting our housing needs at the same time as our commitment to sustainability. Even more significantly, with the insight of people like Alison Watson MBE we see the way a Built Environment GCSE could learn from the trail blazed by Class Of Your Own's pioneering Design Engineer Construct 'DEC' course which I consider to be the model of how we should be teaching and assessing modern high-value vocational qualifications to prepare academic students for professional careers across all areas where we could, and need, to do better. DEC's industry links, using industry-standard tools in the classroom, the insight of industry professionals helping deliver the course in school and on work placements, the assessment that doesn't just test the memory of skills and knowledge but also rewards the vital workplace soft skills of communication, leadership, teamwork, project management and, perhaps most of all, original thinking and creative problem solving is what, if copied by a new Built Environment GCSE and also in other curriculum areas could make 21st-century education the long over due powerhouse of the change we need to see in our economy and society. Let's not repeat the mistakes of the last curriculum review where we expected children to memorise scientific formulas for exams (something only an engineer, pharmacist or medic looking to end their career in a court case would do) and even more bizarrely, assessing a subject like Computer Science with a pen and paper exam a Victorian would recognise!

With the Government talking about building 1.5 million homes this parliament, and borrowing for investment in infrastructure, this article should come as a wake up call. As the article says, there has been a net loss of a quarter of a million people in the last five years. The other scary figure is a 40% dropout rate amongst apprentices. The task is not now to limit ambition, but to see how the construction industry can be revitalised and skilled trades made attractive as a career. https://lnkd.in/e7gn_ntd

The Australian government has taken a bold step to address the critical skill shortages plaguing the housing construction sector. In a move aimed at attracting more workers to the industry, millions of dollars have been pledged to cover fee-free TAFE (Technical and Further Education) courses related to construction trades. This initiative is a game-changer, removing financial barriers that often deter individuals from pursuing vocational education and training in the construction field. By eliminating tuition fees, the government is opening doors for aspiring tradies, making it easier for them to acquire the necessary qualifications and skills to thrive in this booming industry. Read more below... https://lnkd.in/gp95HMs9