Building 300,000 homes is ‘a fantasy’ without skills revolution, says Hague

Building 300,000 homes a year is “a fantasy”, according to former Tory leader William Hague. But this is not because of the planning system or nimbyism, but an acute skills shortage. “Regulations could be bulldozed, councils mandated to hit targets, developers forced to get on with it,” he writes in The Times, but the target will not be reached. “This is because we do not have in this country the electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, scaffolders, bathroom fitters and roofers who would be needed to build 300,000 homes every year.” The Times (£)