Builder says he’ll ‘walk to John O’Groats in pants’ if Labour builds 1.5m homes

A property expert says he will to “walk to John O’Groats in my boxers” if the Government achieves its plan of building 1.5m new homes in England by 2029.

Clive Holland’s tongue-in-cheek comment comes as he warns there is a shortage of workers and more needs to be done to get youngsters into the industry.

The builder-turned-broadcaster told the Daily Express: “It’s not going to happen.

“If it happens, I will walk from here to John O’Groats in my boxers. It’s never going to happen, it’s just not going to happen.

“We haven’t got the people.”

According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the UK needs an extra 250,000 construction workers by 2028 in order to meet demand.

Meanwhile, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) warns planning approvals for new housing are at their lowest level since records began in 2006.

Clive, who used to present the BBC One daytime show Cowboy Trap and is now a host on construction station Fix Radio, said it’s time to “educate the educators” to get young people into the industry.

He said: “We’ve got loads of construction collegiates around the country that are dying on their backside because they haven’t got enough kids in there. This could all be changed with a different mindset.”

This week marks National Apprenticeship Week and research from Checkatrade shows 350,000 new apprentices are needed in order to deliver the Government’s housing and net zero targets.

Oliver Sidwell, co-founder of apprenticeship website RateMyApprenticeship, told the Express that a lack of young people entering the construction industry is playing a part in a “chronic shortage of skilled workers in the UK”.

The shortage is expected to be further impacted by estimations that almost one million construction workers will retire within the next decade and a decrease of overseas workers since Brexit.

Clive Dickin, chief executive of the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation trade body, told the Express earlier this week that scaffolders face “significant” challenges in helping meet the target.

He said: “We have 1,200 vacancies currently… adding extra demand into that is naturally going to be a challenge, but we will step up.”

The Prime Minister’s visit on Thursday to a building site in Milton Keynes to promote his housing policies was cut short after a noisy protest by tractor-driving farmers.

Sir Keir Starmer said he is “determined to make the dream of homeownership a reality for people across the country”.

“Through our Plan for Change, we will build 1.5 million homes and deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.”

A Ministry of Housing spokesperson previously told the Express: “We are clear that all new homes must be built to the highest standard and we are taking a range of steps to invest in the construction industry and build up essential skills so we can deliver the homes this country badly needs.”