As many as 500 million bricks are sitting unused in factory yards across Britain, the GMB Union has warned, as the government faces pressure to deliver its ambition of building 1.5 million homes by the next general election.
The union said the unused bricks represented enough material to build 50,000 homes. Workers from across the industry warned that jobs could be put at risk if the government did not increase its efforts to meet the housebuilding target.
Brickworker warns of job losses
Lewis Parmenter, a brickworker, told the GMB’s congress on Monday that 500 million bricks were sitting unused in factory yards across the country.
He said the material was enough to build 50,000 average-sized houses or ten small towns, and could provide homes for hundreds of thousands of people. Mr Parmenter warned that the brick industry would collapse and 8,000 jobs, including his own, would be lost without construction starting on the required homes.
Housebuilding target under pressure
The government’s ambition requires 300,000 houses to be built every year, a rate of construction not seen in decades. About 203,000 homes were built in the 12 months to June, according to data compiled by the BBC.
London’s listed housebuilders have cut back on landbuying and warned on profits, as rising supply costs and soaring mortgage rates caused by the Iran war affected balance sheets and homeowner demand.
Angela Rayner said “headwinds” caused by the Iran war were to blame for Labour’s sluggish progress towards the target. She said the target had always been a stretch target and that she was not giving it up despite its slim chance of being met.
Ms Rayner also pointed to the government’s recent allocation of £10 billion to its social and affordable homes programme, and said home starts had accelerated by 15 per cent since the previous year. She said international headwinds and construction costs were negatively affecting the housebuilding target.
Source: City AM
