1.3 million new recruits and 350,000 apprentices needed in the construction sector over next 10 years to deliver on housing and net zero, with 30% for housing I&R work
Estimated need for new recruits and apprenticeships in the UK by 2033 in construction, housing I&R and by occupation under housebuilding and net zero path (thousands)
Two of the key priorities of the new government’s agenda are to ‘Get Britain building’ and ‘Make Britain a clean energy superpower’. Delivering on these visions will require a suitably sized skilled construction workforce. This report looks at the number of new skilled recruits and apprentices needed over the next ten years to provide capacity to deliver accelerated housebuilding and faster progress to net zero related to the housing stock. While considering the needs for the construction sector overall, this report focuses on the demand for home improvement and repair (I&R) activity, and twelve skilled occupations that are most relevant for this type of work.
Total new recruits
Total apprenticeships
Construction
1,265
347
Of which: Housing I&R
377
103
Non-housing I&R and new work
888
243
Of which: Carpenters
The key findings from the report are:
113
52
Builders
114
52
▪ Strong growth in housing I&R activity is driven by increased housing transactions and retrofitting, rising from 1.7% of GDP in 2023 to 2.4% in 2033, equivalent to a £24 billion annual increase by 2033 in 2019 prices ▪ To deliver the construction output needed over the next 10 years, we estimate the construction workforce will need to expand by 515,000 and employment in the home I&R sector will need to expand by 219,000 ▪ To expand the workforce as well as replace retirees and others that leave the workforce, the sector will need to recruit a total of 1.27 million people over the next 10 years, of which 377,000 are needed in the home I&R sector
Electricians
111
51
Plumbers
90
42
Painters
61
28
Bricklayers
41
19
Roofers
28
13
Glaziers
26
12
Plasterers
21
10
Floorers
16
7
Scaffolders
11
5
Steel erectors
4
2
▪ A range of skills are needed to carry out I&R work with the greatest demand for carpenters, builders and electricians
Total twelve occupations
635
293
Other occupations
630
54
▪ We estimate that a minimum of 347,000 completed construction apprenticeships are needed by 2033; this would require around 700,000 people starting these apprenticeships
Source: Capital Economics . Note: May not sum to totals due to rounding.
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