In conversation with house builders: future homes

Building a career in construction

Before tackling the topic of future homes we asked our guests about what they felt a career in construction could offer people.

Andy Gordon explained “I’ve worked in this business for 15 years… it’s an amazing industry, there are so many different avenues [to explore and] it isn’t just about a building site, there’s a lot more that goes on behind it.”

Paul Smits said “There’s so many opportunities and I think we don’t promote the industry enough [including] apprenticeship and graduate programmes.”

Carl Slater added “It’s a great career, [there are] so many opportunities in the construction industry. I echo what Paul said really, we don’t ‘sell’ our industry anywhere near enough.”

The challenges facing construction

Our guests then discussed the challenges facing construction, particularly in light of ambitious house building targets and the need to deliver high-quality, sustainable homes. They all agreed that the main two challenges at this time were the planning system and the growing skills gap.

Paul Smits summarised “As an industry we welcome those type of targets, however our planning system is broken [and] we’ve got a skills shortage.”

Carl Slater felt that “Planning is the greater concern… I think it’s fair to say most developers are geared up and want to deliver those homes… [but] the planning system is such that everybody’s got schemes which are held up for various reasons.”

Looking forward to net-zero homes

Ahead of the new Future Homes Standard publication in 2025 we asked our guests for their views on net-zero and what future homes might look like. The Future Homes Standard publication will aim to significantly lower carbon emissions, prioritise low-carbon heating and focus on energy-efficiency in new homes.

Carl Slater explained “We’re heading towards air source heat pumps, [solar] PV… effectively an all-electric solution.”

Andy Gordon highlighted the sparse knowledge about future homes among consumers. He said “[I think there’s an] information gap where people aren’t 100 percent sure what the gain is… by educating people better on that we’ll get a bit more engagement from purchasers.”

Final thoughts

We finished by asking our guests when they felt net-zero homes could realistically become the standard across new developments.

Carl Slater suggested “2050… if we get clarity on the Future Homes Standard there’s no reason why the industry can’t achieve that but there’s an awful lot to do.”

Andy Gordon noted that “I think it’s going to be tough… if we look at a lot of the other factors that have come into the industry over the last 10 to 15 years say, it’s very rare they land when we say they’re going to land, so I think if you went on history it’d be an optimistic date.”

Paul Smits said “I think you might not get to net-zero but there’ll be a big focus on the carbon, the insulation, to make that house very [energy] efficient.”

To find out more watch the full discussion below.