Antler Homes Plc’s Post

Entering the last few days approaching the Election and having already posted my vote, a few things in construction are guaranteed whatever the next political landscape looks like: 💴 No party wants to raise taxes so there will still be the same amount of money to spend 🏗️300k homes built per year is an absolute fantasy in this decade 👷The construction workforce will continue to age and the skills gap will get wider ⛈️ The challenges of climate change and target net zero will still be a mountain to climb The colour of the flag above 10 Downing Street makes very little difference to the construction industry’s need to Attract, Train & Retain the workforce required to meet all of the challenges above. It will require the commitment of every business, from the ‘one man band’ to the ‘big boys’. It will need collaboration & Intergrated planning with Education providers, local authorities and Whitehall departments It will need a collective, proactive culture of “want to” not “have to” What it doesn’t need is more money throwing at it to tick some boxes and meet some half arsed election pledges. 💸 CITB surplus Levy funds of over £100m 💸 Over £3bn in unused Apprenticeship Levy returned to the Treasury so far 💸 £115bn public spend on education yearly The money is there to Train, the industry needs to work harder to Attract & Retain the workforce it needs There is no point sitting back and blaming a politician who’s only going to be in a role for 12 months……if they are lucky! #whatareyoudoingaboutit

Election season is upon us! Get ready to see lots of pictures of politicians in hard hats pointing at things. What have Labour already said about the construction and infrastructure sector? We will need to wait for the manifesto launch but Labour have already trailed several plans and policies aimed at supporting the construction sector: 1. The Green Prosperity Plan and forming Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company to be headquartered in Scotland. Labour have said the aim is to "ensure jobs and supply chains are built here in the UK, developing our clean energy industries". 2. A new industrial strategy created in partnership with business, through a statutory Industrial Strategy Council. 3. A new generation of Technical Excellence Colleges, offering more high-quality apprenticeships and providing training opportunities tailored to local jobs 4. Reforming the Apprenticeship Levy as a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy. 5. Policy to promote building housing on the "grey belt" (low quality green belt land) presumably through planning policy reform. 6. Merge the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) into a “new, powerful” body to “better support the delivery of major capital projects” 7. 1,500,000 new homes during the course of the parliament including good quality affordable homes. 8. Building new towns. 9. They've recently said they will be "faster in cracking down on late payments making sure the law is on the side of small businesses", a constant issue in construction but no indication, as far as I can see, that this would result in further changes to the regime that already provides some protection for construction contracts. #ConstructionSector #Infrastructure #GreenEconomy #IndustrialStrategy #Election2024

In his weekly column for The Times, Lord Hague makes a compelling case for vocational education and that the lack of it is holding back the economic growth of the nation 🏚 The UK's goal to build hundreds of thousands homes annually is challenged by a skilled trades shortage, especially post-Brexit with fewer EU workers. 🔧 Skilled workers like electricians and plumbers are essential but in short supply, needing years of training and apprenticeships. 📉 Government initiatives aim to fill skill gaps, but rapid improvement in construction skills remains difficult. 👷♂️ The CITB predicts a need for 225,000 extra workers by 2027, highlighting a vast skill shortfall in the sector. 👩🏭 Cultural shifts and support for practical skills, especially among young people and women, are needed alongside incentives for small businesses to train apprentices. As he notes "We do not have in this country the electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, scaffolders, bathroom fitters and roofers who would be needed to build 300,000 homes every year. Their skills cannot just be conjured up but need training and apprenticeships that can take years. They are the very skills that will also be in demand to retrofit existing homes with heat pumps, change cladding that should never have been installed, and work on big infrastructure projects such as HS2" And they are skills that we (as a society, including industry and schools, as well as ministers of all parties) have not been producing in sufficient numbers for a long time. This cannot be allowed to continue and there needs to be a serious reappraisal of the tertiary education system in all parts of the UK at a time when there seems to be a disconnect with what industry requires and what is currently being provided. The fact that the Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government has reduced its apprenticeship budget by 25% at a time when we need more skilled young people in key areas of the economy is just one example where priorities have gone wrong. With 10,000 fewer apprenticeships in 2024-25, it's been estimated by one Welsh FE College that this decision could potentially cost the Welsh economy more than £400m over the long term. Whilst skills is a devolved matter, this is nevertheless an issue that needs urgent attention across the whole of the UK. I would hope that such reform will form a critical part of the manifestos for the this year's general election as this is not a failure of one political party but of successive governments over the last 40 years and it is a failure that is holding back the future of our economy. #skilledtrades #apprenticeships #vocationaltraining

Another results day! Reflecting on a few of the statistics from BBC News today: "London remains the highest-performing region in England, with 72.5% of entries marked at 4/C and above. The West Midlands is still the lowest-performing region, where that pass rate was 63.1%. That 9.4 percentage point gap is up from 8.7% last year." And also: "The North-South divide that existed before Covid persists. Four out of five regions in the North and the Midlands have a lower pass rate this year than they did in 2019, whereas every region in the South has a higher pass rate." It seems the rigour of external examination has well and truly returned post-pandemic. Charterhouse Online offers courses which are open to anyone. It is not bound by location, not even country! We employ teachers from a variety of geographical regions, but ensure high quality teaching and learning through our strong recruitment processes. Although it will take years to reduce any divisions in grades, online education has enormous potential in helping turn the tide.

After a slow start to the year, Quarter 2 brought little to cheer about. Activity levels remained subdued, and the General Election created a distraction. The consensus amongst merchants was that June was very disappointing, with low levels of footfall and projects on the go-slow due to weather or confidence. The new Government are saying all the right things: 1.5 million new homes over the next 5 years are needed, but can they be delivered? Manufacturers and merchants would certainly welcome the volume, but both need reassurance on the realistic rate of increase in construction activity if we are to make the investment in people and capacity necessary to meet this demand. Main and sub-contractors will need to invest in their teams to provide the necessary skills, and as a country, we need to make apprenticeships in construction attractive to young people entering the world of work. It may be a coincidence, however since the election the market does seem to have turned a corner. Confidence is improving, inflation fell to target levels (temporarily at least) and interest rates began to fall. We have all the conditions for a better market, comments #BMBI Expert Jim Blanthorne of Keylite Roof Windows. Read Jim’s comment: https://bit.ly/3AYbwar And for the full BMBI Q2 2024 Report: https://bit.ly/4cW8lNB #BMBI #BuildersMerchants #RoofWindows

Wonderful to see the investment volumes into PBSA grow. The point in relation to a two-tier market is an interesting one. Only 285,000 new PBSA beds in the UK have been supplied since 2012 (accounting for 35% of total stock). This means that 65% of existing PBSA supply in the UK was built before 2012. Let’s get building more. With an increase of 470,000 full time students over that time period, it is clear to see why there is an entrenchment of a two-tier market, in terms of age and quality of stock. #PBSA #studentaccommodation #trowershousing #knightfrank

In last week's King’s speech, we heard the legislative agenda from the new Government. There are some positive early signs, including plans to reform the planning systems, speed up approvals for infrastructure projects and a plan to foster a more joined-up approach to Government between decision makers at a local and national level.   With firms highlighting skills gaps and shortages as an issue which could be a barrier to growth, the decision to reform the Apprenticeship Levy to offer a wider range of skills training is welcome. Collaboration between industry, education, and government will be key in addressing skills shortages and developing new skills strategies which encourage colleges to support courses aimed at jobs in our sector. As with other announcements, we’ll need further detail, and we stand ready to work to improve the training available. The Government has pledged to consult with industry widely on the measures it announced. While delivering better training and secure jobs is a common objective for both business and government; listening to industry voices and exploring more details is vitally important. To give firms the confidence and clarity they need to invest, we want Government to work closely with us. The first one hundred days will be an important test to see if early actions match early words.    In England, there'll be an increased role for Metro Mayors who already play a key role in strategic planning, particularly in transport, skills, and business support. Combined authorities have the powers to plan to help alleviate congestion and enhance productivity in their regions. We want businesses and consumers to receive the goods they demand efficiently and cost-effectively. An opportunity now exists for local decision makers to work with us to unlock growth which will benefits businesses locally and nationally. We campaign all year round, and as the only dedicated trade association representing the interests of HGVs, LGVs and Coaches across all four parts of the United Kingdom, we’ll continue to engage with local, regional and devolved decision makers. We want to continue to work collaboratively with national, local, regional and devolved decision makers when they’re developing road freight strategies, and in relevant policy areas which impact our members and this sector. Consultation with industry will be important in areas such as traffic congestion measures, facilities improvement, and road improvement and safety measures. With rising costs, ever-changing regulations and evolutions in technology as we move towards decarbonisation, our industry needs clarity every step of the way. Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we’re ready to work with decision makers at all levels to get that clarity and to support schemes and plans that improve routes, improve connectivity and keep the supply-chain moving. This benefits everyone. #Collaboration

Attention all property owners and developers and Tax Professionals! Are you maximizing your tax deductions with the 179D deduction? It's crucial to ensure that your provider is incorporating the latest inflation adjustments, especially with the increase to 65 cents per square foot allowed in 2024. Don't miss out on potential savings! Keep your eyes on the final deliverable to make sure you're reaping the benefits of this additional allowance. Over your total square footage, that extra 65 cents can make a significant difference to your deduction. 💰💼 #TaxSavings #179D #PropertyOwners #TaxDeductions #2024Updates

4 weeks of ….. Empties # 4 For Anthony here’s the current number of council houses in Southampton that are sitting empty and are capable of retrofitting. In order to tackle homelessness in the UK we need several approaches but in essence it’s:- ( 1) retrofitting UK’s 600,000 empty properties that are owned by Councils and private sector (2) using modular construction techniques to build new QuAlms Haus Co Living & Working Eco Villages on half football pitch size sites to enable the Young Underinvested to get a roof over their heads; a foot on the property ladder and continue their often interrupted education through specialist remote earn whilst you learn apprenticeships. I’m going to share my concept and other plans with Anthony so that he can use them in his discussions with the powers that be to try ( not try actually but) to reverse the rapidly increasing trend in homelessness for all age groups. https://lnkd.in/ekexJX7w

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