HOD BARRIER
New brickies plea to reach homes target Feeling the heat for curry ‘betrayal’
MINISTERS are desperate to find 15,000 new bricklayers to speed up house building.
A government report out tomorrow says it is the only way to hit a 300,000 new homes target, up from the present 220,000.
Report author, ex-tory Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin, wants a “flash programme” of on-the-job brickie training.
The new recruitment target is almost a quarter the current workforce and the plan is to have the brickies on tap by 2023.
Sir Oliver was commissioned to find ways to speed up house building. But he warns that greedy developers are slowing the system down by limiting new build sales, to keep prices high.
Sir Oliver says builders could still make CURRY restaurant bosses feel betrayed by Brexit-backing ministers who pledged to relax visa conditions for non-eu workers.
Four outlets close every week due to a shortage of skilled chefs from the Indian subcontinent, industry leaders say. They profits by varying the size and design of new homes. He adds: “If house builders were to offer more variety, in more distinct settings then overall build rates could be substantially accelerated.”
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire says: “We want to help people on to the housing ladder.”
But the urgent need for new housing is spelled out by another report which shows claim MPS have broken promises made in the referendum campaign to make it easier to bring in staff from overseas.
There will be a rally in Westminster on July 10 to oppose rules such as chefs from outside the EU having to be paid at least nearly half a million more families are renting private accommodation because of the chronic social housing shortage.
The number of young families in social rented accommodation has fallen by around a third over the past 20 years, with 400,000 fewer living in council and housing association homes, according to the Resolution Foundation.
Britain has suffered a failure to replace stock following the Right to Buy scheme in the 1980s, it says.
The proportion of families spending more than a third of their disposable income on housing costs is rising across the population.
And one in five families with an under 35-year-old as the main breadwinner is now paying an “unaffordable” amount for their home. £29,570 after deductions for meals and accommodation. Critics say it is too expensive for most curry restaurants.
The Government said: “The right Brexit deal will let us take control of our borders while supporting our small businesses.”