Sir James Cleverly, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has called for a fundamental shift in how Britain values skilled tradespeople, warning that a decade-long failure to respect craftsmanship is fuelling the housing crisis.
Sir James was speaking on a new episode of the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) External Affairs podcast Build Up from the Basement, which has launched its second series. It hosts high-profile guests from the three main political parties to discuss a range of topics from housing policy to the issues affecting builders.
The Shadow Housing Secretary used a striking metaphor to condemn the gap between political ambition and housing delivery, telling podcast host Iona Stewart-Richardson:
“One of the problems with politics is everybody wants to be an architect. No one wants to be a builder. Bright ideas are really, really good but someone’s got to put them into practice. If we don’t recognise and reward the people that get stuff done, all that ends up happening is we talk about getting stuff done but don’t get anything done.”
Sir James criticised what he described as a long-running failure to celebrate skilled work in British culture, tracing the problem in part to the Blair-era push for mass university attendance. He said:
“As a society we have lost our respect for skillfulness. There was a big thing about university, a proper job is where you wear a suit and sit in front of a computer. That’s right for the people it’s right for. But it’s not right for everybody. I can see no credible reason why we shouldn’t attribute the same level of collective respect for people in the building trade as we do for people in the armed forces.”
On the Government’s 1.5 million homes target, Sir James called it “nonsense” and said simply repeating a target was not the same as delivering one. He said: “Saying it is not the same as doing it. The Government just standing and saying ‘we are going to build 1.5 million houses’ – well, who’s ‘we’? What you need to do is unlock the businesses that are going to build it.”
He identified a range of structural barriers preventing existing planning consents from being built out, including access to finance, a shortage of skilled workers, the rising cost of materials driven by high energy prices, regulatory burden, and tax uncertainty. He said: “If you’re not looking at all of those things, shouting about numbers is just basically a way of looking tough and that’s not what we need at the moment.”
Sir James also set out the Conservative Party’s plans to scrap stamp duty, which he described as a “drag anchor on the British economy” with both a direct financial and psychological effect on homebuyers. He argued the policy, which could cost around £9 billion and would disproportionately benefit FMB members, saying: “When people move, they do stuff. They have an extension, get some repair work done, redo a kitchen or a bathroom. And the stuff that they do tends to be the work of small to medium local building firms rather than the big national building firms.”
On apprenticeships and young workers, Sir James said the Government’s increases to National Insurance, minimum wage thresholds and employment rights were “really, really counterproductive,” making it “much, much more expensive” for small building firms to take on young people. He said: “Employee rights only affect people that have got a job. We’re seeing unemployment going in the wrong direction — the number of payroll jobs has dropped by about 180,000 since Labour took office.”
On the FMB’s Licence to Build campaign, which calls for mandatory licensing of builders to tackle rogue traders Sir James said his instinct was to favour trade body membership and due diligence over Government regulation but acknowledged that if self-regulation fell short, a registration scheme would need to be considered: “Organisations like yours are absolutely the kind of thing the Government should be supporting and listening to. You want to make sure that the building trade has got a reputation for being professional.”
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, added:
“It was fantastic to have Sir James on the podcast to share his knowledge of the sector and discuss issues affecting our members. The Shadow Housing Secretary has identified the right problems: a skills crisis rooted in decades of undervaluing trades, a housing target that no one in the industry believes is deliverable and a tax and regulatory environment that is squeezing small building firms, like our members out of business.”
The podcast is episode is on Youtube and soon available via Apple, Amazon and Spotify:
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is the largest trade association in the UK construction industry representing thousands of firms in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Established in 1941 to protect the interests of small and medium-sized (SME) construction firms, the FMB is independent and non-profit making, lobbying for members’ interests at both the national and local level. The FMB is a source of knowledge, professional advice and support for its members, providing a range of business building services to help them succeed. The FMB is committed to raising quality in the construction industry and members have to pass a professional vetting and independent inspection process. The FMB also offers a free service to consumers called ‘Find a Builder’. Please visit www.fmb.org.uk.
Follow us on X, LinkedIn like us on Facebook
The FMB constantly lobbies Government at all levels to boost output and raise standards of safety and professionalism in construction. To keep abreast of our campaigns and news, and to join the debate, follow us at @fmbuilder, find us on LinkedIn or like us at www.facebook.com/FederationofMasterBuilders