The managing director of a Nottingham-based house builder has spoken out on 'major challenges' being faced by the house building industry. The problems, he says, are leading to delays on site and new homes falling 'behind schedule'.
Steve Midgely, the co-founder of Fairgrove, a family-run business, has placed the blame for delays with the Government for failing to support small construction firms. Adding that Brexit, Covid, the war in Ukraine, and resulting labour shortages and cost increases have also led to delays, he says.
Fairgrove is constructing the new Swanwick Fields estate in near Alfreton where there will be around 100 homes costing between £350,000 and £725,000. It also has developments in Kimberley at The Brewery Yard and Nine Corners.
Now, Mr Midgely has called upon Rishi Sunak’s new minister for housing, Michael Gove, to provide more support as the business is experiencing “major challenges”. Derbyshire Live, which has contacted the housing department for comment, reported that the business owner and his team are “disheartened to find themselves behind schedule for completion” and having to move customers into incomplete properties “that we are not one hundred percent happy with”.
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Steve Midgely spent 10 years as chairman of the Small Developers Group and six years as a main board member of the Home Builders Federation. He said: “Our vision to create places where people aspire to live, work and enjoy life is as strong as ever, given the tough times we’ve all come through over the last few years.
“A home is literally where the heart is and so we understand how important it is that our customers arrive at their perfect dream home on move-in day.
“That’s why we are so disheartened to have handed over some homes with a few aspects unfinished and to be behind schedule – it just is not the quality finish and experience we are known and respected for.
“Our 25-year plus heritage is all about comfort, high standards, excellent customer service and great workmanship and design.
“So I’m urgently calling on the new Housing Minster to address the challenges faced by smaller house builders in this extremely difficult construction climate. Key problems are the supply chain delays which have come about through a perfect storm of factors, culminating in vital materials not arriving on our sites in time.
“A shortage of skilled workers post-Brexit has certainly had, and continues to have, a really negative impact on house building, as does the terrible situation in Ukraine. Timber, for instance, is a big problem.
“We have had a real struggle getting hold of fencing as a result, similar to how we're finding it very hard to secure ground workers and scaffolding. The supply chain and labour market are in a state of chaos.”
Mr Migely added that it wasn’t just his company that was experiencing these ongoing problems. He said: “At a recent meeting with more than 15 other developers, we all reported the same thing. We’re all being hit by delays for at least one vital skill or product as we strive to deliver houses on time. It doesn’t seem that bigger developers are feeling the squeeze in the same way – and this needs addressing.
“Some of the properties we are building at our luxury development in Alfreton have to be supported in the ground via a process called piling. The piles are steel tubes, imported ex-Russian oil and gas pipeline pipes. We have lost over 3 months whilst these have been stuck at a Norwegian port as a result of the war in Ukraine.
“This delays construction by weeks and puts our buyers at risk of their mortgage deals running out, hence the real sense of urgency to move people into homes that we are not one hundred percent happy with. The situation needs some serious attention from those calling the shots in Government.”
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