WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD BUILDERS GONE?
Events in recent years have seemingly made it harder to secure a builder for your project. Our expert builder Andy Stevens explains the reasons behind this shortage, and offers his advice
Acomment I’m hearing more and more from homeowners is: “Finding a good builder is like looking for a needle in a haystack.” So the big question is, where have they gone?
Let’s start off with the good news; there are still plenty of good builders out there. Loads, in fact. But the good ones are booked up like never before. Some building contractors I know are booked up for more than two years. Others simply cannot take on any more work, while others aren’t even looking at any additional work because they simply don’t have the time. On the other hand, you also have other contractors desperate for more work.
If we go back to Brexit, it was well documented that we lost a significant number of skilled tradespeople. These haven’t been replaced. The government has recently relaxed laws for them to return as we are desperately short of these workers with their skillsets. However, I personally don’t believe many will come back to a country they were asked to leave. They are now back home working, living with their families, not thousands of miles away. Their own economies are picking up and there is work for them. This is one pretty significant reason for the shortage of builders and tradespeople.
Another reason is Covid.
A lot of construction companies suffered badly during Covid, took out various loans and grants and have now gone into liquidation. The latest official data from the Insolvency Service shows that 471 construction businesses collapsed in May — anew monthly record. Construction-related insolvencies in May rose by 65% compared with April, and by 34% compared with May 2022.
With the increase in the cost of borrowing and funding, as well as the increase in wages, it is easy to see why there are so many construction companies struggling financially. We also have a significant number of contractors and tradespeople leaving the industry to work elsewhere or just to go into retirement.
Adding up the number of individuals and companies not around in the construction industry anymore because of the reasons I’ve stated above, we desperately need big numbers of people coming into the industry. Sadly, this is not happening and there are very low numbers coming into the industry. It’s a huge problem, and one that, in my opinion, is only going to get worse.
We are therefore losing significant numbers out of the industry, but nowhere near this number are coming in, hence the shortage of good builders. We need to change the image of construction, starting with schools. It is a wonderful indus
