Britain’s building sector can’t keep absorbing political turbulence as a cost of doing business
The 1.5 million homes pledge sits at 22.8% delivered, with under three years to run. Every time the brief changes hands, planning guidance shifts, funding signals are reread, and the supply chain pauses to work out what the new direction actually means.
This uncertainty is causing even more sleepless nights than normal for those operating in a sector already facing a plethora of other major challenges, from the cost of materials and labour to potential fuel and energy supply issue.
My grievance doesn’t lie with any individual minister, as Steve Reed may turn out to be excellent. Still, the reality is that the building economy cannot keep absorbing political turbulence as yet another “cost of doing business”. The longer that Westminster pretends it can, the further its own housing targets slip out of reach; so too the hopes and dreams of millions of Brits aspiring to home ownership.
Construction is not a quarterly business, it is a 12 to 18-month decision business. The equipment and supplies needed on sites in spring 2027 are being forecasted, cash-flowed and ordered now. We are seeing this activity already on our digital marketplace.
The contracts being signed this month determine which apprenticeships start in September, and the investment decisions that get land moving in two years depend on whether builders believe the political weather will hold.
Every cabinet reshuffle or leadership wobble resets that calculation, because builders don’t measure progress in reshuffles; they measure it in jobs finished and contracts delivered. Continuity of policy and a reasonably steady foundation for decision-making are the preconditions for both.
The cost of political uncertainty doesn’t fall evenly. Construction is overwhelmingly a small business sector, which is inherently far more sensitive to uncertainty and cost pressures.
Major national and multinational contractors can ride out a policy pause because they have buying power, stronger cash positions, and margins that can absorb, within reason, macro- and micro-level instability. The thousands of SMEs, local developers and one-man bands, however, that actually pour the concrete, fit the windows and wire new houses cannot.
When Westminster pauses, they pause, when the cabinet revolving door spins, their order books wobble. A delayed funding decision in Whitehall can mean cancelled contracts, job losses, and implications across an entire supply chain, leaving the country no closer to achieving the required housebuilding goals.
Some steps towards building additional consistency in government would be most welcome. While the civil service’s job is continuity, of course, the direction-setting by the Secretary of State and Ministers ultimately dictates their “to do lists”.
Can more be done to secure fixed or minimum tenures in key positions, such as Housing Secretary? This would reassure industry that the Secretary of State would be in post long enough to read the brief, understand the levers, and be held accountable for outcomes rather than announcements.
Cabinet reshuffles serve the Prime Minister’s politics, which, by their very nature, change as frequently as the weather. Housing, on the other hand, serves the country’s economy and long-term socioeconomic and strategic interests. The two shouldn’t run on the same clock.
The 1.5 million homes target is still achievable, but not on the current operating model, which is broken, filled with uncertainty and leaves the country in a holding pattern while the situation for real people worsens. Westminster has to choose between the politics of reshuffles and the economics of delivery; it cannot reasonably, or pragmatically, have both.
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Tom Shorten is the CEO of HSS ProService Marketplace, Europe’s largest building services marketplace.
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