Exodus of mentors is having a negative impact on construction skills - Yorkshire Post Letters

It is good to read that ward councillors representing the residents of Ravensworth in North Yorkshire, are standing firm with housebuilders and developers about supplying the minimum ten percent of affordable houses, The Yorkshire Post, July 1.

What I don't understand is that with the rising interest rate on mortgages how families can afford loans to purchase four and five bedroom houses?

Affordable housing, with either one or two bedrooms houses gives opportunities for first time buyers to get on the housing market and potentially releasing social housing properties for rental.

Developers who have been land banking plots for many years for housing don't get any sympathy from me.

They blame the higher cost of materials, which I agree with, and higher labour cost at the moment, but it was their decision not to build when material prices were cheaper, and there was more labour available in the construction industry.

Perhaps this is one of the downsides of Brexit with hardworking builders going back to their families in the countries of origin.

Also, lack of apprenticeships in the construction industry, which the Labour government under Gordon Brown and his predecessor, Tony Blair, should take some of the blame, as a proper apprenticeship in the construction industry is three-four years.

Why did they keep encouraging young people to go to universities to study for a degree in business studies, IT or sociology, and at the same time, without sponsorship, racking up large student loans, which could be as bad as having a mortgage as this debt will be with them for years until they start earning over £21,000.

Putting young people in junior management positions after gaining a good grade in offices doesn't produce houses.

To learn any trade, you cannot beat an apprenticeship, learning alongside skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen, who have the high skill base to pass on by mentioning.

But what this and previous governments don't seem to grasp is that this mentoring skills base in industries like construction is diminishing, as those who have the skills are retiring and enjoying life after contributing to National Insurance for often over 40 years.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision not to increase the amount you can earn before paying tax will deter these skilled construction tradesmen and tradeswomen from coming back and mentoring those who are new to the industry.

How can this government achieve its targets on house building when there isn't the skilled labour force to build good quality sustainable houses, which are built to last fifty years or more?

Many houses, and high rise flats, built in the 1960s were literally thrown up overnight with substandard materials like inferior quality of concrete, which sometimes affected steel work and brick rubble, containing sulphur from terrace housing which was demolished and used to make up the foundations have had to be demolished long before the predicted life span by architects.