Get on board with Homes Work

House building is at the heart of the government’s long-term economic plan. Through our investment we’re both building the homes this country needs, but also creating the opportunities that hard-working people deserve to get on - whether that’s to own their own home, or to start a new job.

These opportunities were taken away by the end of the unsustainable housing boom in 2008. It left builders unable to build and aspiring homeowners unable to buy. But it also meant the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the construction industry.

We’re pulling out all of the stops to turn this around - and it is working.

Since 2010 we’ve delivered 420,000 new homes across the country, including 99,000 affordable homes. We’re well on track to deliver 170,000 affordable homes by 2015, with plans to deliver a further 165,000 by 2018. And through schemes like help to buy and right to buy, we’re offering a valuable alternative to the bank of mum and dad and have since 2010 been helping more than 110,000 people get on the property ladder.

Thanks to this recovery in housing, we’re also seeing employment prospects emerging for people new and returning to the industry.

There are success stories up and down the country. For example, just last week, Barratt Homes announced that it has created 3,000 new jobs over the past year, and plans to expand its apprenticeship scheme
over the next three years. Linden Homes also plans to recruit 500 apprentices over the coming years.

But it’s also wider than the developers. At the beginning of the year, I visited the Hanson’s brick factory near Lancaster, which had been mothballed in 2009 but has now re-opened with 35 staff - many of whom worked at the site before it closed down and have now returned.

I want people to see how construction off ers a range of valuable, rewarding careers. So I welcome Inside Housing’s Homes Work campaign, encouraging residential developers and social landlords to shout about the
numbers of apprenticeships and training opportunities they’re offering. It will mean anyone walking past a building site anywhere in the country will not only be able to see the new homes being delivered in their area, but also the jobs and employment opportunities this provides.

I encourage developers and social housing providers across the UK to sign up to this campaign, so people know what this important industry has to offer.

Kris Hopkins is housing minister and MP for Keighley and Ilkley