Fast tracking future home builders

19 September, 2017

New approach puts the boot into closing the home building skills gap through 2-6-week intensive training course

A new pilot scheme is set to make inroads into closing the home building skills gap by fast tracking qualified construction college leavers into their specialist job area and getting them prepared for the world of work. In doing so, it will reduce the risk of them falling away from the sector or unemployment. Participants have now all completed their training and are being matched with employers.

The CITB funded “boot camp” pilot has been developed by the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF) Home Building Skills Partnership, that has been working in tandem with five further education providers across the country and matching 33 of their college leavers taking part in the pilot with potential employers. This initial pilot is focusing on carpentry and joinery, dry lining and bricklaying, which are among the most challenging job areas to recruit to, with the potential to expand across the country into other job areas.

The boot camp is a 2-6-week on-site training course to test participant competency, enhance their newfound skills, improve speed to support their future employment with home builder firms, and bridge the gap between leaving college and the world of work. The participants are matched with potential home builders and their sub-contractors, with a view to starting on site as paid employees, subject to assessment at the end of the training. They will also receive CITB funding to achieve their NVQ for their CSCS blue skilled card.

The boot camps have taken place at West Suffolk College, Burton & South Derby College, Leeds College of Building, Barking and Dagenham College in Romford, and Coleg Gwent in Newport. All have now completed and the employer matching process is well underway.

Home builder employers on board the pilot include Persimmon, Barratt, and sub-contractors including Absolute Design and Build, Measoms and Astins.

Jenny Herdman, Director of the Home Building Skills Partnership, said:

“Colleges play a key role in getting people trained in specialist trades, but we know that it’s not always enough to secure them employment.  Nationally, the overall retention rate of construction college leavers moving into their specialist trades is a major challenge and we need them in home building.

As an industry we need to get better at transitioning college leavers from construction courses into employment.

This fast track programme aims to get more site ready people entering the home building industry and so help increase industry capacity.

Ultimately, we want to see an established pathway for new entrants from full time courses to the home building sector.

The response from industry has been extremely encouraging, and we look forward to supporting the young home builders of the future every step of the way into their new career. We would urge even more home building companies to get involved and support this pioneering initiative.” 

Ian Hirst, Faculty Director of Construction Crafts at Leeds College of Building, which ran one of the boot camps, added: “As the UK’s only specialist construction further education college, it is a huge privilege to be involved in this project with the HBF’s Home Building Skills Partnership. 

“The programme is designed to offer our students, who have completed a two year bricklaying course, an additional six weeks of training that focusses on developing their speed and accuracy, so they have the specific skillsets that the home building sector requires.

Creating this direct link with national employers is immediately benefitting our students on other programmes, and we are building on that momentum here through our engagement with homebuilders.”

The pilot boot camps are as follows:

Bricklaying:
Coleg Gwent in Newport (9 candidates)
West Suffolk College (5 candidates)
Leeds College of Building (4 candidates)

Dry lining:
Barking and Dagenham College in Romford (7 candidates)

Carpentry & joinery:
Burton and South Derbyshire College (8 candidates) 

Local home building employers can find out how to get on board to the pilot programme by emailing skillspartnership@hbf.co.uk.

For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact Helen Stoddart on 020 7960 1611 or 07919 307760. Helen.stoddart@hbf.co.uk   

Notes to editors

  1. The Home Building Skills Partnership is part of the Home Builders Federation (HBF). Funded by CITB, its aim is to develop, grow and sustain a skilled workforce the industry must have to build the homes the country urgently needs and close the skills gap. It focuses on attracting new entrants into the industry, providing the right training to develop the qualified workforce needed to construct today’s high quality new homes, and working with sub-contractors: http://www.hbf.co.uk/policy-activities/home-building-skills-partnership/
  2. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the representative body of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s member firms account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk
  3. CITB is the Industrial Training Board (ITB) for the construction industry in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). CITB ensures employers can access the high quality training their workforce needs and supports industry to attract new recruits into successful careers in construction.
  4. Using its evidence base on skills requirements, CITB works with employers to develop standards and qualifications for the skills industry needs now, and in the future. CITB is improving its employer funding to invest in the most needed skills and by making it easier for companies of all sizes to claim grants and support.  
  5. Leeds College of Building was established in 1960 and is the only specialist further education construction college in the UK. The Principal is Ian Billyard, who was appointed in March 2003. The College is based over three campuses, Millwright Street, North Street and Hunslet. The College currently has around 7,000 students.