Yorkshire & Humber hit with worst construction skills shortage in 20 years

Yorkshire and Humber’s construction industry is experiencing its greatest skills crisis since 1998, a survey released today by RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) has revealed.

The quarterly RICS UK Construction Survey (Jul-Sept) shows that the skills shortage in Yorkshire and Humber has reached its highest levels since the survey was launched 18 years ago, with bricklayers and quantity surveyors in shortest supply.

50% of respondents reported difficulty sourcing labour, with 52% having difficulty sourcing brick layers, whilst 62% also highlighted a shortage of quantity surveyors. In the same time period in 1998, just 18% of Yorkshire and Humber’s surveyors reported a skills shortage.

In addition to labour supply, 69% of firms revealed that financial constraints, such as access to credit, were among the biggest constraints to growth, while 60% said that regulatory and planning issues were potent constraints.

Despite these ongoing issues, however, the survey shows some areas of growth, with the number of new construction projects increasing in Yorkshire and Humber, particularly in private housing, commercial and industrial sectors.

Over the last three months (Jul-Sept) almost half of the region’s respondents saw an increase in workloads (49%), but this is a fall from the 73% of respondents in Yorkshire and Humber who reported a rise in workloads during the previous quarter (Apr-Jun).

Phil Askin, MRICS of Harris Construction Management Ltd in Leeds, said: “Specialist’s resources are becoming increasingly stretched as the market improves. This will be a testing time for those contractors who have not maintained supply chain relationships, and paid them fairly over the past few years.”

Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist at RICS added: “While it’s exciting to see that Yorkshire and Humber is experiencing growth across the construction sectors, future growth will only be sustainable if the growing skills crisis is addressed. The availability of both blue collar and white collar construction workers is reaching crisis point. We haven’t witnessed a labour shortage of its kind in nearly 20 years. Without the relevant skills, we will not be able to grow many of the Government’s priority construction sectors such as infrastructure.

“Currently, while we know that there is a serious shortage of skills, we don’t yet know why we have seen such a dramatic drop in the labour market over the past five years. Part of the problem is the legacy of the collapse in the sector following the onset of the Global Financial Crisis. Many professionals and other skilled workers chose to leave the industry and quite simply have not returned or been replaced. A real focus on attracting more young people into the industry is critical alongside an expansion of apprenticeship opportunities.”