Organisations warn over impact of a No Deal Brexit on housing construction in the UK
Leaving the European Union without a deal would be more catastrophic for the construction industry than the financial crisis of 2008 when it lost 250,000 skilled workers, it is claimed.
According to the National Federation of Builders (NFB) a No Deal Brexit would make life harder for SME house builders and regional contractors at a time when the country is suffering from an acute skills shortage and a chronic housing crisis.
It says that the Government is also making the situation worse with its Immigration White Paper which would impose an annual salary threshold of £30,000 for immigrants in low skilled trades, among which it includes construction.
‘Construction businesses need stability and, with 100 days from Brexit, the Government seems to be working toward providing the exact opposite. A no-deal Brexit would not only make it harder for SME house builders to grow and prosper, but would make it impossible to build 800 homes a day and train the skilled workers of tomorrow,’ said Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB.
The Federation of Masters Builders (FMB) is also critical of the Immigration White Paper which it says shows the Government isn’t listening to the business community as it sets out a post-Brexit immigration system that would devastate the construction industry.
‘Despite more than two years of constructive engagement, what has been proposed by Ministers takes on none of our feedback. If the Government wants to jeopardise the UK economy for the sake of meeting an arbitrary immigration target, it’s going the right way about it,’ said Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB.
‘What’s particularly worrying is the Government’s obsession with salary thresholds for migrant workers entering the UK. The figure of £30,000 was floated in the Migration Advisory Committee report and was met by fierce opposition from almost all sectors,’ he pointed out.
‘It makes no sense to draw meaningless lines in the sand when we should base our immigration policy on what will make our economy strong and productive. The White Paper also states categorically that it will make no allowances for so-called low skilled workers,’ he also pointed out.
‘This is wrong on two levels. Firstly, the definition of low skilled will cover most construction tradespeople and secondly, genuinely low skilled workers, such as labourers, are essential to the safe and smooth running of any construction site,’ he added.
Berry also explained that 12 month work visas for occupations in short supply during the transition period simply won’t work and warned that small and medium sized construction firms make up 99% of the industry and do not advertise for roles internationally.
‘From a migrant worker’s perspective, why go to the UK for just 12 months when they can settle in other countries for much longer and put down roots if they wish. If the 12 month work visa idea was supposed to be an olive branch to the business community, it leaves much to be desired,’ said Berry.
‘The Government describes the construction and house building sectors as strategic and central to delivering its own aims. However, the plans set out today would make it impossible to meet the Government’s house building targets and the world class infrastructure projects we have in the pipeline will be nothing but a pipedream,’ he concluded.
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