Immigrant construction workers 'playing a key role'

Construction workers from abroad are a vital part of the UK building industry, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) has said.

A shortage of UK construction workers has led to the industry rely on immigrant communities more heavily in recent years, and they will play a crucial role in helping achieve the government's house building targets, according to the federation.

But the HBF confirmed that it was the issue of land supply that was most pressing for the industry as a whole.

"We are importing a lot of construction workers but they are helping to do a good job for the industry and they are felt to be good quality, hard working employees," noted HBF director of external affairs John Slaughter.

"John Calcutt's report last week said that the industry does have the capacity to grow output if the business climate is supportive of that.

"The key thing is having sufficient land supply with planning permission that the industry is able to build on. That's potentially the main constraint, taking a longer term view," Mr Slaughter added.

Buy your materials at a discount price with BuildStore's TradeCard

© Adfero Ltd