The UK’s largest housebuilding firms have been criticised for a failure to invest in innovation and training.
Lord Richard Best, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on housing and care for older people, criticised the “seven major housebuilders” for what he claimed was a prioritising of large profit over investment in developing a skilled domestic workforce and modern methods of construction (MMC).
“We have put ourselves in the hands of around seven major housebuilders, who do the vast bulk of all the UK’s housebuilding. I don’t detect signs that, with profit doing very nicely, the major housebuilders are keen to do new and innovative things,” he said.
Lord Best claimed that the companies were to blame for labour issues. “They have not invested in training as they should have. They have been very content to import the workforce we need, mostly from eastern Europe. Whatever happens post-Brexit, life won’t be any easier in terms of recruitment from the EU," he said.
Speaking at a conference organised by the Westminster Business Forum, he said: “MMC requires heavy-duty, long-term investment that, in the end, will pay off very well. But in the meantime, [MMC] dents the very substantial profit being made by the major housebuilders.”
A Home Builders Federation spokesman rejected the claims: “The industry is investing heavily in skills, training and new technologies and the larger builders are a major part of this. Housing supply has doubled in just six years so the challenge is a huge one and it takes time to train people to the high standards required by the industry.
“Developers are also investing in a broad range of innovations in building methods, but there is no silver bullet and technologies and associated new skills take time to fully develop."
The spokesman invited Lord Best to meet with the organisation to learn how it is helping new talent.
The UK’s largest housebuilders have maintained higher profit margins than contractors in recent years, with some, such as Berkeley Group, revealing a 26 per cent pre-tax margin in its last annual report.
