UK suffering from supply and demand issue due to lack of builders

The UK housebuilding industry is suffering from a lack of skilled labourers, according to a survey by estate agency Frank Knight. Among several of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, 73% believed that the “cost and availability of labour will have a negative impact on future housing supply”. Many qualified builders left the trade during the 2008 financial crisis, while fears of a Brexit affecting the movement of labour are adding to the industry’s woes. More than half of the businesses participating said they planned to hire more skilled labourers in the next three years, while the same number believed the government had “not done enough” to ease building regulations.

A refuse worker watches a digger at a rubbish tip in Barnet, London December 8, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs

Britain's housing crisis could get much worse because there aren't enough builders to supply the homes needed to address the country's supply and demand balance, according to a survey conducted by estate agent Knight Frank.

Questioning a number of Britain's biggest housebuilders, the survey found that 73% thought "the cost and availability of labour will have a negative impact on future housing supply."

There was also a general concern that a Brexit — Britain voting to leave the EU — will only make the acquisition of skilled builders harder thanks to the "impaired" movement of labour.

Many developers were hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis and are still recovering. Since then a lot of skilled labourers have moved away from the sector, resulting a shortage of workers. An ageing workforce that is hard to replace with younger labourers has only exacerbated the situation, the report says.