New RICS President Justin Sullivan has warned that building skills shortages “threaten to derail” Labour’s plans to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years.
Sullivan adds that the construction industry is suffering from an “acute skills shortage” and encouraging the next generation into the profession will be one of his key focuses this year.
He says: “The UK faces many challenges — we need to build more homes, but face skills shortages which threaten to derail these plans.”
Sullivan’s comments highlight the task ahead of the government as it moves to meet its election manifesto pledge to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years. Over the last five years, the country has built around one million homes.
Last month, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, led by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, formally set local councils a combined target of 370,000 homes a year, up from about 220,000 in recent years.
Housebuilding on this scale has not been hit since the end of the 1970s.
Sullivan, who took up his post as RICS’ 143rd president on 1st January 2025, adds that it will be difficult to recruit building professionals from abroad.
He says: “Surveyors and other built environment professionals are in short supply across the globe, most acutely in regions where construction is booming, such as the Middle East.
“We must also develop an increasingly welcoming profession which is open to people of all backgrounds and identities – a crucial cornerstone for getting more youth into the profession.”
Sullivan, the founder and chief executive of construction consultancy Adair, took over from former RICS president Tina Paillet.
Last month, the Home Builders Federation echoed the need for new workers to enter the industry.
It said for every 10,000 new homes to be built, the sector needs about 30,000 new recruits across 12 trades, ranging from bricklayers, plumbers, roofers and plasters.
The housebuilding body said that while the industry has “the capacity to deliver current build levels, tens of thousands of new people will need to be recruited if we are to reach the targets set out”.
