A housing crisis in the UK is being made worse by a shortage of bricklayers. Britain needs to build more homes so young people can get on the housing ladder. In addition, soaring rents and a lack of affordable housing have increased rough sleeping. Successive governments have failed to meet their housebuilding targets. The latest government is being hindered by a lack of qualified bricklayers and skilled tradespeople. The UK needs an extra 25,000 bricklayers, 10,000 carpenters, and 3,000 new electricians to fulfil its promise to build 1.5 million new homes.

The UK government has blamed the lack of workers on "years of underinvestment in skills". An official said the government was doing its best to build 300,000 new homes. Another spokesperson added: "We will pull every lever to deliver on our commitment." However, a housebuilding consultant called the government's home construction pledge "unrealistic". He said training enough workers could take "a generation". He added that the current target of adding 5,000 new apprenticeships each year was "fanciful" and a "drop in the ocean".