Do housing targets add up?
Housebuilder, Persimmon, has reported that it built 10,664 new homes in 2024, an increase of 7% year on year. It
also revealed that the average selling price increased from roughly £255,752 to £268,500.
This news will be a welcome boost to the government’s plan to construct 1.5million new homes by 2029, a pledge that
will also favour the fenestration industry as it stands by to supply all those new windows and doors. That is if we can
find enough skilled labour to build all those homes in the first place, of course.
According to the Home Builders Federation (HBF), we will need 20,000 more brickies, 20,000 more groundworkers,
8,000 more joiners, 3,200 more plasterers, 2,400 more plumbers, 2,400 more roofers and 2,400 more electricians.
The HBF does not specify the shortfall in fenestration professionals, but the GGF has estimated that we would need
somewhere in the region of 6,250 additional installers to meet Labour’s target.
In addition, the GGF has also recently identified a downward trajectory of skilled workers and highlighted that 14,000
individuals will need to obtain new qualifications, or renew existing ones, in order to retain their vital Construction Skills
Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards over the next 12 months.
The GGF, to its credit, has taken a proactive stance on addressing the skills shortage, introducing initiatives such as
the Skills Pathway scheme, but the fact is that a lack of new people – across the construction industry – remains a
major obstacle to growth.
And with the cost of hiring and retaining staff set to become more of a challenge for businesses this year, thanks to
the government’s national insurance and minimum wage increases, it could prove even harder than ever to resolve.
That’s highlighted by a British Chambers of Commerce survey that showed fewer companies are expanding their
workforce as a direct impact of higher costs following the Autumn ’24 budget, with construction, manufacturing and
logistics the worst affected sectors.
For some businesses, a greater reliance on sophisticated automation and the adoption of AI systems will go some
way to alleviating the pressure on finding new staff, but technology only gets you so far. Ultimately, when it comes to
building new homes, we still need ‘boots on the ground’.
Electric HGVs
In other news, Amazon has announced that it has ordered 150 electric heavy goods vehicles that will reportedly create
Britain’s largest zero-emission truck fleet.
These include 140 Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 trucks and eight Volvo FM Electric trucks, which are said to have a
range of 310 miles on a full battery and take roughly an hour to charge up with a high-speed recharger.
At £200,000 a unit, it’s a big investment for the retailer, but how long will it be before we see the first fenestration
industry business go full electric? We’ve seen quite a few larger organisations upgrade to more fuel-efficient trucks in
the recent years – but is anyone ready to deliver their profile, their glass, or their windows and doors via battery power
alone?
If so, then let me know by emailing luke@glasstimes.co.uk