We don’t need foreign brickies – here’s how we can boost UK’s builders, says Homes Under the Hammer’s Martin Roberts
IF there is one thing I’ve learned from presenting TV’s Homes Under The Hammer, it’s that we Brits love a building project.
Each week, ambitious people take on properties sold at auction that are in need of considerable amounts of TLC.
But the major problem they face is finding skilled workers to provide that tender loving care.
That shortage is also affecting major construction projects and our ability to build much-needed new homes.
The Government decided this week that one way to tackle the problem is to add bricklayers, roofers, carpenters and plasterers to what is known as the Shortage Occupation List.
That means it will be easier for people from abroad with those skills to get visas to come and work here.
Politicians from all sides have argued that it would be better to train more youngsters from these shores to take on these important roles.
I have seen for myself the benefits of getting teenagers into the construction industry.
I am currently giving 15-to 17-year-olds a taste of the trades as I renovate the Hendrewen Hotel in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales.
The youngsters — provided by a local community interest company called Real Skillz — are learning vital on-the-job skills and getting specialist training, as well as having the opportunity to renovate a vital facility for their village.
They are getting a taste of different aspects of the building trade and being taught things such as painting and decorating, ladder safety and use of power tools, and they will receive proper qualifications as a result.
The mother of one of the lads rang up in tears of joy, having seen the positive benefit this scheme is having on her son.
Her lad, who had not left the house for years due to agoraphobia, suddenly cycled on his own to visit his grandad’s grave because his grandad used to build things too, and he wanted to tell him what he had been doing.
The number of NEETS — not in education, employment or training — in Wales is three times higher than in the rest of the UK.
And this scheme is giving 15- to 17-year-olds, who are often disengaged from traditional schooling, the chance to shine by doing something practical.
The problem is they can’t yet take up an apprenticeship because such on- the-job training opportunities do not normally begin until the age of 18.
I hope that more schemes like this can be rolled out countrywide to demonstrate that the building trade is an exciting profession and to give more kids, like the ones that are helping me, a chance.
There are certainly plenty of good reasons to become a brickie or chippie — one being the wages.
A labourer can earn about £180 a day, rising to £250 upwards for someone more skilled.
The job is practical, it is healthy, it keeps you fit and there is great camaraderie on site.
And there are a variety of projects you will work on.
Sure, it can be hard, dirty physical work which is not so great when it is raining, but it is better than being stuck in an office.
There are signs that the prospect of being saddled with £60,000 of debt is putting some young people off going to university.
My son, who is 16, will be studying for his A levels in September, but he says more than half his friends are going to college to do building courses.
There is no doubt that they are needed.
The knock-on effects of our huge skills shortage is felt far and wide.
The number of new houses being built by small to medium enterprises has dropped from 40 per cent of all houses 30 years ago to ten per cent this year.
That is partly due to a lack of people coming into the industry.
The high demand for tradespeople means they are able to charge higher prices, which is driving up inflation.
Businesses are going under because they can’t find the staff.
Does that mean we have to bring in more workers from abroad?
Questions are being raised about the pay levels they are being offered.
Normally, anyone wishing to obtain a work visa needs to have the offer of a job paying at least £26,200 a year.
But if they are on the Shortage Occupation List they can be paid as little as £20,960 to qualify.
I am sure a lot of tradespeople in this country will not be happy about the Government trying to lure in brickies, roofers, carpenters and plasterers from abroad on lower wages.
The construction industry bodies, though, want even more types of jobs to be added to the Shortage Occupation List.
They argue that we need more builders, because Britain is building more.
That’s good news if you are training to be a brickie, because the signs are that there will always be work for you.
There are 3.1million people in the UK in the construction industry — one in ten of the entire workforce.
Never has there been a better time to join them.