Housing Crisis: 1m Construction Workers Needed

The UK needs to create one million more construction jobs over the next five years if house-building targets are to be met, according to a new report. The study was released as the Government moves to realise a lofty ambition of building one million new homes by 2020 - aided by relaxing planning laws - with a focus on more affordable homes. But the drive to get more shovels at-the-ready to ease the UK's housing shortage has been met with complaints from the construction industry that a lack of skilled staff is hampering development. Underlining the sense of urgency was the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), which said the skills shortage was becoming more acute rather than improving. Thousands of top labourers, who lost their jobs and headed abroad to find work during the financial crisis, have not returned while apprenticeships are falling short of requirements. Read more on the Sky News website.

Why Social Landlords Are Knocking On Doors To Help Young Tenants Find Jobs

Housing associations have a long tradition of helping tenants into work. But government plans, announced in the July budget, to scrap housing benefit for unemployed 18-21 year olds, have created a new urgency to support young people in their job quests. Most offer much more than a job-finding service; as well as identifying and motivating their young jobless tenants, schemes such as Circle’s Routes 2 Work programme provide training in basic employability skills and many continue to provide support once tenants are in work. Circle offers apprenticeships in its own organisation and through partnerships with others. Its procurement process requires potential suppliers to offer apprenticeships or work experience, often in construction but also in sectors such as law. Read more on the Guardian website.

Economic Benefits Of New Home Building

House builders in the UK are providing more than just homes with a new report revealing the extent of the benefits. The report from the Home Builders Federation, says that last year in the East Midlands, 13,190 homes were started by private house builders, the public sector and housing associations. Based on the findings of the report, the economic footprint of this house building meant that:

·         56,717 jobs were supported

·         528 graduates and apprentices positions were created

·         £21,196,330 was contributed towards education in the area

·         £16,962,340 in extra council tax revenue was generated plus £131,900,000 in other tax contributions

·         £12,345,840 towards new open spaces, community spaces or sports facilities, or enhancing existing resources was paid to Local Authorities

·         3,034 new affordable homes were built

·         Payments of £292,066,170 were made to local authorities for further provision of new affordable homes

Download the report from the HBF website.

Rents in EVERY London Postcode Are ‘Unaffordable’ For Workers on Living Wage

Rent in every London postcode is now “unaffordable” for low-paid workers — even those on the London Living Wage — according to a new survey.  Figures show that workers paid £9.15 an hour, the “living” rate, have to spend more than half their income on rent. The situation is even bleaker for apprentices, whose £2.73-an-hour earnings mean they do not stand a chance. Even the capital’s cheapest postcodes such as SE28 and N9 are now considered out of reach with rooms on average costing £480 a month and £505 a month respectively. At these rates renters on the Living Wage would be forced to spend about 40 per cent of their net income on accommodation. SpareRoom.co.uk, which conducted the research, calculated “affordable” as spending less than 35 per cent of take-home earnings on rent. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Councils’ Leader Calls for Powers to Tackle the Housing Shortage

Ministers have been told they will fail to deliver on promises to build thousands of new unless to give councils greater freedoms over skills. The chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA) said a dramatic fall in the number of people completing construction apprenticeships makes the target of 275,000 new affordable homes by 2020 almost impossible to achieve. Coun Gary Porter called for councils to be given control over how money is spent on skills so that it can be used to meet the needs of local businesses. He said: “The Government has expressed a clear ambition to build more affordable homes. Central to this is lifting housing borrowing limits to allow us to invest in new housing, giving us the freedom to set Right to Buy discounts and retain 100 per cent of the receipts locally.” Read more on the Yorkshire Post website.

Five Year Job and Training Pledges From the Aspire Group

All customers of Aspire Housing aged 19 to 25 will be offered training and a work placement, under a new plan. Aspire Housing has 9,000 homes in Staffordshire and Cheshire. The training will be provided through Aspire Housing’s sister company PM Training, which is Staffordshire’s top provider of apprenticeships for 16- 18-year-olds. Under the “Aspire to Work” plan customers aged 19 to 25 would be offered a traineeship, which consists of training and a work placement, through the network of 900 companies who take apprentices from PM Training. The plan to help young people into work is one of dozens of commitments made in a five year strategic plan for Aspire Housing. Read more on the Aspire website.

Council Set To Approve Raft of Housing Measures

Birmingham City Council is set to approve a raft of housing measures including building new council homes, improving existing council housing and procuring new repair and maintenance contracts for council housing. The council's cabinet is set to approve the full business case for the construction of 106 council houses for rent today.  The opportunity to continue the council’s housing development programme through the Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT) is due to procurement efficiencies and the availability of a windfall grant from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). As well as providing more affordable houses for rent, the scheme will boost the economy and support the further creation of training and apprenticeship places. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.