Following the upwards revision of the UK’s annual housing construction targets, Rehau is warning that the supply chain must address existing skilled construction worker shortages exacerbated by growing demand.

As announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner, the Government is increasing the annual housing construction target from 300,000 built per year to 370,000.

Yet with housing associations and the wider housing sector facing pronounced worker shortfalls, Rehau believes that supply chains must be reconfigured to meet expected increases in demand.

“The labour crisis is already biting hard in London, with housing associations facing shortages of up to 2,600 skilled people to construct, maintain and retrofit social housing stock,” explained Martin Hitchin, CEO at Rehau. “Additionally, the London Homes Coalition has expressed an urgent need for 10,000 workers annually and 31,000 over the next five years, even before this latest announcement.

“A house needs foundations to stand, and our construction sector requires support to best bridge these eye-opening shortfalls.

“This London problem is also a UK problem, as workers are spread too thinly to build specialist knowledge in crucial areas such as windows specification,” he continued.

“However, with the Future Homes Standard (FHS) coming into force in 2025, an awareness of how these components and others impact crucial areas such as a property’s energy efficiency and ventilation will be vital. As such, the sector must seek to leverage supply chain expertise to best negate potential knowledge gaps as project workloads increase alongside housing demand.”

Issues around FHS awareness were previously identified in Rehau’s recent whitepaper, Future Homes Standard: Preparing UK Housing for 2025. Surveying 200 local authority, housing association, social housing and housebuilding decisionmakers in June 2023, it found that two-thirds of respondents were not prepared for the FHS’s introduction.

Following the change in government and recent consultations allowing greater interpretation around FHS requirements under the new Home Energy Model, this new policy announcement highlights the need for greater supply chain support, said Martin.

“It is a time of seismic change across the social housing and housing sectors,” he concluded. “While this latest announcement and ongoing updates to the FHS are undoubtedly welcome, they may further exacerbate the difficult situation we previously identified in our whitepaper.

“If the industry is to meet these demanding new housing construction targets, it is clear it will require third-party assistance to streamline specification processes. By engaging the supply chain, an under-strain workforce may be able to alleviate some of the pressure caused by skill shortages, both now and into the future.”

To read Rehau’s report, Future Homes Standard: Preparing UK housing for 2025, click here.