By Sara Roberts, CSO, Kingdom Academy
Andy Burnham’s first month as Prime Minister has brought a noticeable shift in the way government is talking about skills, housing and construction.
Technical education is to begin from the age of 14. Regional mayors are set to receive greater influence over planning and housing investment. Councils are being encouraged to return to housebuilding at scale. Almost £10 billion has been allocated for new social and affordable homes, while £442 million is supporting an immediate drive to offer everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets by Christmas.
There has been no shortage of ambition.
The more important question for housing providers, construction employers and training organisations however is what these announcements will mean in practice.
Some of the programmes now being progressed were inherited from the previous administration. Several will take years to implement. Funding announcements still need to become viable developments, completed homes and sustained employment. New technical pathways will only succeed if young people can progress into recognised qualifications, apprenticeships and good jobs.
However, a broader direction is beginning to emerge.
The government appears to recognise that housing, construction, skills and employment cannot continue to be treated as separate policy areas. Building more homes depends on workforce capacity. Tackling homelessness requires suitable housing and skilled support. Regional growth needs education and training that reflect local employment opportunities.
The first month has changed the emphasis. Whether it changes outcomes will depend on what happens next.
Technical education from 14: changing the status of vocational learning
One of Burnham’s first major announcements was the introduction of new technical education pathways beginning at the age of 14.
Under the proposals, young people in England would continue studying core subjects including English, maths and science, while gaining access to technical education, workplace experience and direct contact with employers.
Schools, colleges, councils, employers and regional mayors would work together to develop pathways reflecting the industries and opportunities in their area. Depending on the local economy, these could include construction, engineering, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, digital technology, health and care.
Ofsted would also change how it evaluates schools, recognising the quality of technical education and how effectively pupils are prepared for employment.
The announcement was accompanied by a clear message from the Prime Minister:
“Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap.”
For those working in vocational education, that recognition is welcome.
Technical learning has spent too long being presented as a secondary route for young people who are considered less academic. That view fails to reflect the knowledge, judgement and responsibility required across modern construction, housing and the built environment.
Construction today includes digital design, project management, engineering, sustainability, building safety and increasingly sophisticated methods of construction. Skilled trades require technical precision, problem-solving and continuing professional development.
Housing roles also demand a considerable combination of knowledge and judgement. Housing professionals need to understand regulation, safeguarding, tenancy management, risk, repairs, resident engagement and complex customer needs. At senior levels, they may also be responsible for organisational assurance, service strategy and the performance of significant housing portfolios.
These are not easy alternatives to academic careers. They are skilled professions in their own right.
Giving young people greater exposure to technical and vocational routes at 14 could challenge outdated perceptions before they become fixed. It could help pupils understand the range of careers available and see how their learning connects with genuine employment opportunities.
The government’s proposals also acknowledge that qualifications alone may not be enough. Many young people need practical experience, professional networks, confidence and a clearer understanding of the workplace if they are to make a successful transition into employment.
That is particularly important when more than one million 16 to 24-year-olds are outside education, employment or training. The government says youth apprenticeships have also fallen by around 40 per cent over the last decade.
The proposed pathways are expected to begin rolling out from September 2028, alongside an existing ambition to create 50,000 additional youth apprenticeships.
The direction is positive, but the detail will determine whether this becomes genuine reform or another well-intentioned careers initiative.
From technical education to employment: the pathway must lead somewhere
Introducing young people to technical careers is only the beginning.
For the new pathways to succeed, pupils need to understand what comes next. That means visible routes into apprenticeships, further education, recognised qualifications and employment.
A young person who becomes interested in construction at 14 needs to know which roles exist, which qualifications employers recognise, where training is available and whether there will be a realistic job opportunity at the end.
Employers will need to play a central role in shaping that journey. However, their participation cannot be taken for granted.
Many construction employers want to support apprentices and new entrants but face practical constraints. Smaller businesses may struggle to provide enough supervision, release experienced staff for mentoring or guarantee the continuity of work needed for an apprentice to complete.
Work experience must also be meaningful. A short site visit can inspire interest, but sustained engagement is more likely to help young people understand the expectations, opportunities and realities of a sector.
Training providers need to be included at the design stage too. They understand where learners struggle, which qualifications lead to employment and what additional support can make the difference between starting a programme and completing it.
That distinction matters. Success cannot be judged by how many pupils begin a technical pathway. It must be judged by what happens afterwards.
Participation is useful, but progression is the real measure.
The construction workforce gap: ambition is already running ahead of capacity
The latest CITB Construction Workforce Outlook 2026 to 2030 shows the scale of the workforce challenge facing the sector.
CITB estimates that the UK will need an average of 41,200 additional construction workers every year between 2026 and 2030. That is approximately 206,000 additional workers over five years.
The UK construction workforce is forecast to grow from around 2.61 million in 2025 to approximately 2.68 million by 2030. However, those headline figures do not capture the full recruitment challenge. The sector must support future growth while replacing experienced workers who leave or retire.
CITB forecasts average annual growth of:
- 3.6 per cent in public new housing
- 2.5 per cent in private new housing
- 2.5 per cent in infrastructure
Construction output is expected to remain subdued during 2026 before strengthening from 2027. This creates a difficult balance for employers. They are being asked to invest in the future workforce while managing immediate cost pressures, uncertainty and fluctuating demand.
There is also a timing problem.
The government wants to accelerate housebuilding and infrastructure development now. The new technical pathways are not expected to begin rolling out until 2028, and young people entering them at 14 will take several more years to become fully qualified.
Long-term reform is needed, but it cannot fill vacancies today.
The sector also needs routes for adults changing careers, people returning to work and existing employees who want to progress. That includes flexible training, fast-track options where appropriate, recognition of prior learning and qualifications that can be completed alongside employment.
It requires investment in supervisors, managers and trainers too. Increasing the number of entrants without expanding the sector’s capacity to support and assess them could create a bottleneck further along the pathway.
The workforce challenge is therefore about recruitment, development, progression and retention. Focusing on only one part of that system will not deliver the capacity the country needs.
Social and affordable housing: councils return to the centre
Housing has been one of the clearest priorities during Burnham’s first month.
The government has announced the first major funding allocations from its ten-year, £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
Approximately £9.58 billion has been allocated to 33 strategic partners, including councils, housing associations and other providers. The funding is expected to support the delivery of 73,600 homes across England, with nearly two-thirds expected to be for social rent.
Councils will be able to become strategic partners of Homes England, placing them more directly within long-term housing delivery. A further £46 million has been committed over three years to strengthen councils’ housebuilding expertise and capacity.
This change in emphasis is important.
Councils have continued to carry responsibility for homelessness, housing waiting lists, temporary accommodation and local housing need, while their direct role in housebuilding has reduced dramatically over several decades.
Bringing councils back into development at greater scale could create stronger links between housing need, local planning and investment decisions.
Housing associations will also remain vital to delivery. They bring development experience, long-term responsibility for communities and established capacity to manage social and affordable homes.
However, the first allocations have also exposed the gap between political language and the practical structure of programmes inherited by a new government.
Burnham had spoken about directing the programme towards council housing. The first funding wave continues to rely substantially on housing associations and other providers, with around 60 per cent of homes expected to be for social rent rather than the whole programme.
That does not make the investment insignificant. Tens of thousands of social and affordable homes could make an enormous difference to families living in temporary accommodation or waiting years for a secure home.
It does show that changing the direction of a major housing programme takes longer than changing its political message.
Building homes at scale: funding is only one part of delivery
Funding certainty gives councils and housing associations a stronger basis for long-term planning, but it does not remove the barriers to delivery.
Providers continue to face difficult questions around viability, land, borrowing, construction costs, building safety and investment in existing homes. Planning permission is essential, but it does not automatically produce a completed development.
Every new programme also creates a demand for people.
Councils returning to housebuilding need development managers, planners, building surveyors, procurement specialists and project managers. Contractors need qualified tradespeople, site supervisors, health and safety professionals and experienced managers. Housing providers need asset specialists, housing officers and customer service teams to manage the homes and support residents once they are occupied.
There is also a risk that the pressure to increase new supply competes with the need to improve existing homes.
Housing providers are already responding to Awaab’s Law, strengthened consumer regulation, building safety requirements, the emerging Competence and Conduct Standard and future expectations under the new Decent Homes Standard.
The sector cannot afford to treat new development and existing stock as separate workforce issues. Many of the same skills are needed across repairs, retrofit, compliance, asset management and new construction.
The housing programme is therefore a workforce commitment as much as a financial one. Its success will depend on whether organisations can find, develop and retain the people required to deliver it.
Rough sleeping: moving from emergency accommodation to sustained housing
Burnham’s first instruction as Prime Minister was to begin work on ending rough sleeping.
A £442 million package has now been confirmed to offer everyone sleeping rough in England a route off the streets by Christmas.
The programme combines emergency accommodation with help relating to housing, health and other support needs. It is expected to deliver more than 1,000 settled homes over three years, alongside intensive support.
This recognition of the wider support required is important.
Providing emergency accommodation can protect somebody from the immediate dangers of sleeping rough. Sustainable progress requires suitable long-term housing and services that respond to the reasons a person became homeless and the barriers they face when rebuilding stability.
That can include mental health support, safeguarding, addiction services, benefits advice, employment support and help to sustain a tenancy.
These services depend on capable people working across multiple organisations. Housing officers, support workers, homelessness teams, health professionals, local authorities and voluntary organisations need to share information, coordinate services and exercise professional judgement in complex circumstances.
There is also a broader connection with skills and employment.
A secure home provides the foundation from which someone can begin addressing health, training or employment needs. At the same time, access to a job, suitable training and a stable income can support longer-term housing security.
Housing should not be viewed as the final outcome of a support process. It is often the starting point that makes every other outcome more achievable.
Devolution and planning: can local areas connect investment with workforce need?
Another defining feature of Burnham’s approach has been his support for greater regional decision-making.
Under proposals announced in August, mayors across England would receive powers to take over significant planning applications affecting local growth.
The national thresholds would include developments involving more than 150 homes, over 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings exceeding 30 metres. Mayors could also grant upfront permission for some developments, while gaining greater influence over Homes England investment in their areas.
The government has already allocated £1.3 billion from the national land and infrastructure fund to seven established mayoral areas. This sits alongside £234 million in brownfield funding and £1.5 billion committed through the Housing Accelerator Fund. The proposed mayoral planning powers would bring areas outside London closer to powers already held by the Mayor of London.
The planning implications will receive much of the attention, particularly where mayoral decisions conflict with the views of individual councils or communities.
The skills implications deserve equal attention.
Regional leaders with greater visibility of future housing, regeneration and infrastructure projects should be able to plan more effectively for the workforce needed to deliver them.
If an area expects substantial growth in housebuilding, retrofit, transport infrastructure or clean energy, that information should influence local qualification pathways, apprenticeship provision and employer engagement.
Colleges and training providers could align their delivery more closely with an evidenced pipeline of work. Employers could engage with learners earlier. Young people and adult career changers could make decisions based on visible local opportunities.
This would be a much more connected approach than encouraging people to complete qualifications without a clear understanding of whether suitable work will be available.
However, regional skills planning must involve more than mayoral authorities and major employers. Small and medium-sized businesses employ a significant proportion of the construction workforce. Specialist training providers may also understand local barriers and learner needs that are less visible in national data.
Devolution will only strengthen skills delivery if decision-making remains connected to the employers, providers and communities expected to make it work.
England and the devolved nations: the policy boundaries matter
Many of Burnham’s early announcements relate specifically to England.
Education, housing and planning are devolved. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own qualification systems, housing programmes, apprenticeship structures and policy priorities.
That means a technical education announcement made by the UK government does not automatically change what happens in a school or training centre in Scotland. New mayoral planning powers in England do not apply to Scottish or Welsh local authorities. Homes England programmes do not fund housing delivery across the whole UK.
These distinctions matter when assessing the direct impact of Burnham’s first month.
However, the central challenges are shared.
Employers across the UK are trying to recruit skilled people. Construction continues to face an ageing workforce and shortages in important occupations. Housing organisations are responding to higher expectations around professionalism, safety, service quality and tenant accountability. Young people in every nation need clearer information about technical careers and credible routes into employment.
There is an opportunity for each nation to learn from approaches that work elsewhere, while retaining systems that reflect its own economy and communities.
For training providers operating across different parts of the UK, this also reinforces the need to understand local qualification frameworks, funding rules and employer demand. A single national message about skills cannot replace detailed regional and national planning.
What employers and training providers should be asking now
The first month of the new government has created a direction of travel, but employers and providers should not wait for every policy detail before considering what it means for their workforce.
Important questions include:
- Which occupations will be most affected by future housing and infrastructure investment?
- Where are the current recruitment, competence and leadership gaps?
- Do existing qualification pathways reflect the roles employers need?
- Can smaller employers participate meaningfully in work experience and apprenticeships?
- Do managers and supervisors have enough time and capability to support new entrants?
- Are progression routes clear for employees who want to move into technical, supervisory or leadership positions?
- How will housing providers balance skills investment across new development, existing homes and frontline services?
- Are regional workforce plans based on credible project pipelines and local labour market evidence?
- How will success be measured beyond course starts and apprenticeship registrations?
These are training questions, but they are also questions of business resilience, public investment and national delivery.
A construction employer unable to recruit cannot expand to meet demand. A housing provider without sufficient professional capability will struggle to deliver safe, consistent services. A development programme without a skilled supply chain will experience higher costs and delays.
Workforce development is not an additional consideration after the policy has been agreed. It is part of the infrastructure required to deliver the policy.
The real test is whether ambition becomes capacity
Andy Burnham’s first month has not solved the housing crisis or closed the construction skills gap. It would be unrealistic to expect any administration to achieve that within weeks.
What it has done is bring several important connections into clearer view.
Technical education needs to lead to recognised qualifications and employment. Housing investment needs a workforce capable of turning funding into safe, well-managed homes. Planning reform needs to be connected to the skills required by the development pipeline. Homelessness policy needs capable services that help people move into and sustain secure housing.
The proposal to value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap is a strong statement. The real test will be whether technical and vocational routes receive the investment, employer involvement and long-term attention required to make that equality meaningful.
For housing and construction leaders, the next stage should involve looking closely at the gap between planned delivery and current workforce capacity.
At Kingdom Academy, we work with employers across housing and construction to turn skills requirements into practical workforce development plans. This includes supporting organisations to identify capability gaps, develop existing teams and create qualification pathways linked to operational and regulatory needs.
Whether an organisation is preparing for growth, responding to changing professional standards or building its future leadership pipeline, the starting point is the same: understanding the people and skills it will need to deliver.
If you would like to explore how your workforce development plans align with the changes ahead, we are always happy to have that conversation.