Essex continues to drive the number of applications being approved to achieve its housing targets, with 5328 houses and apartments along with student accommodation and care villages.

The Mayor of London was given a grant of £4.82m to build 116,000 affordable dwellings in London in 2016 and these were due to be built by 2021, but this was extended to 2023 during the pandemic. As of October, this year, there were still 25,000 new homes that needed to be started before March 2023 to achieve this target. A further 35,000 homes need to be built before 2026.

Labour and material shortages continue to challenge the construction industry along with capacity issues within planning departments. The housing market is also being impacted by the cost of living crisis and the increases in interest rates for mortgages.

Wages continue to be under pressure especially in London and the South East, with trade people not travelling as much around the country with job opportunities in the regions keeping them local.

Although our teams have to work harder to find skilled workers, we have still managed to grow a resilient construction database to supply our clients with qualified and competent tradespeople. Our specialist construction desk has strong working relationships with our talent pool and our regional construction clients reacting quickly to new site launches and shifts in time frames on site.

If you are looking for an expert in construction recruitment working closely with clients and candidates in London and the South East contact Liam for an initial no-obligation discussion about rates and candidate availability.