Berkeley Homes: London needs 200,000 more builders

London needs an extra 200,000 building workers to solve a looming skills crisis and deliver homes for the capital, the boss of Berkeley Homes has warned.

Chief executive Rob Perrins said Brexit pressure intensified existing stress on the industry’s skills base against a backdrop of political demands to build more homes.

Transitional arrangements for EU building workers, accounting for up to half the London workforce according to Perrins, are a key industry demand in Brexit talks.

He said: “We’ve got an ageing population, and an ageing workforce and we’ve got the EU issue, and we also want to double supply.

“I think there’s a 200,000 shortfall just for London housing to build the homes that London requires. It’s a big number just for housing.”

Berkeley has doubled the number of its apprenticeships in the past year and is working with further education colleges.

But Perrins added: “The trouble with the FE colleges is that they love doing the softer (courses) like management, but doing construction you need machines and it’s more expensive.”

London housing starts overall have fallen 30% in the past year as Brexit uncertainty compounds the impact of previous rises in stamp duty and cuts to mortgage tax relief on the housing market.

Perrins said stamp duty should be cut back to 0.5% “across the board. Because of stamp duty nobody is moving and we need mobility of labour. It is a tax on London.”