Construction industry cannot rely on foreign workers, says housing minister

The housing minister has called for more British workers in construction, saying the sector cannot ‘rely’ on a foreign workforce. (Gareth Fuller/PA) - (PA Archive)

Britain cannot rely on overseas construction workers to deliver the Government’s target of building 1.5 million homes, the housing minister has said.

While acknowledging that foreign workers would “play a role” in construction, Matthew Pennycook said on Friday that vacancies in the industry would have to be filled by “people that live in this country”.

According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the UK needs an extra 250,000 construction workers by 2028 in order to meet demand.

At the same time, businesses are struggling to recruit after 120,000 foreign workers went home during the pandemic and immigration restrictions saw the proportion of migrants in the sector fall slightly to just under 10%.

In March 2023, the previous government expanded the shortage occupation list to include more construction jobs, but Mr Pennycook said this had not “made a huge difference”.

Sir Keir Starmer made building 1.5 million more homes one of the six ‘milestones’ he wanted his Government to be judged on (Darren Staples/PA) (PA Wire)

He told Times Radio on Friday that the struggle to recruit foreign construction workers “speaks to some of the foundational importance of migration as part of the plan for change”.

The minister said: “We’ve got to do more to upskill our own workforce, to ensure that those training places, those apprenticeships and ultimately those jobs are coming from people that live in this country to fill those vacancies.

“You can’t rely wholly on an overseas workforce.”

His comments follow the Prime Minister’s inclusion of a housebuilding target as one of his six “milestones” that he wants his Government to be judged on.

That target – described by Mr Pennycook as “stretching but achievable” – involves building 300,000 homes per year, something that has not been done since the 1970s.

But with the CITB estimating the construction industry needs to recruit 50,300 workers a year over the next five years, the housebuilding target could come into conflict with the Government’s aim of reducing migration.

Mr Pennycook stressed the need to train British workers, pointing to the investment of £140 million in 32 home building skills hubs.

He added: “This has got to be a cross-government effort on the skills agenda, and construction skills in particular, because it involves a series of challenges around training, around local labour markets.”