WILL MORE HOUSES MEAN MORE JOBS?

David Bennett, business manager at Topcon GB & Ireland, discusses the effect UK housebuilding will have on the job creation over the next five years.

In 2015, 100,000 jobs were created in England due to a rise of housebuilding activity. Following this activity, a recent Home Builders Federation analysis report shows that the housebuilding industry is now supporting a total of 667,000 jobs across the country[1]. So does this mean housebuilding could be the answer to closing the construction industry’s skills gap?

Housing is clearly high on the Government’s agenda after it recently set a goal for 200,000 new homes to be completed by the end of 2016. As housebuilding continues to grow in the UK, there’s no doubt that it will have a knock-on effect for the generation of jobs because the sector isn’t just hiring trained professionals, it’s also training apprentices which are vital in safeguarding future growth.

In a recent article published by the Financial Times[2], Mike Quinton, chief executive of the National House Building Council, said: “There is still a way to go before we are building the levels of new homes that were seen before the economic downturn but 2015 represents consolidation on the growth seen over the past three years”.

With an average construction growth of 2.5 per cent predicted every year for the next five years for England, it’s estimated that another 27,000 jobs will be created over the next 12 months alone.

However, in order to seriously address the skills gap, the industry must create relationships with educators to help young people understand the importance of construction in the UK, and encourage further apprenticeships and jobs in the future.

Find out about the work Topcon is doing to help close the skills gap here.

[1] http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/house-builders-create-10...

[2] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f716208-c502-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e.html#axzz...