What the Autumn Statement means for the UK construction industry

The supply-side focus to alleviate the housing crisis is welcome and long overdue. While much of the current shortfall in UK housing supply is associated with the private home ownership market, greater consideration must be given to expand housing association, local authority and affordable build-to-rent sectors, alongside the provision of accessible, high quality homes for the disabled and elderly. The announcement of some support for these tenures is a start, but it must be recognised that increasing supply across the full range of tenures smoothes out demand instabilities and provides house builders and their supply chains with the confidence to invest.

With the £120bn commitment that has been announced for supporting infrastructure projects, the Government appears to have warmed to the importance of capital spending, which underpins both growth and productivity. However, we need to see a longer-term demand model to support even greater investment, from both the UK and abroad, going forward.

The CIOB recognises the scale of the housing shortage and therefore supports the measures highlighted in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015. However, we emphasise that new homes must not fall short on build quality and do not believe that either the desired level of housing or infrastructure will be achieved without first curtailing the skills gap that currently exists across the construction sector. There is a need for an average of 100,000 new recruits across the built environment per year between now and 2022 so greater support for Further Education institutions is needed, alongside recognition of the value of high quality apprenticeships and training.

Although we welcome the news of a further 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020, shifting the emphasis on firms to train their own staff, the Government must work closely alongside professional bodies and employers to design and implement high quality, robust standards that meet the needs of the construction industry. Furthermore, clarity on the role of the CITB moving forward must be made to give confidence to employers.