It’s no use political parties saying how many houses they will build if there are no bricks and no bricklayers so we need migrant labour!
Anyone remember “Auf Wiedersehen, Pet”, the black comedy where unemployed brickiez and labourers went from Newcastle to Germany for work? No-one criticised migrant labour when it went the other way!
And how can we fulfil the enormous demand of the new Local Plan if there are no materials or labour available?
“According tot the FMB’s survey half of all construction SMEs are finding it difficult to recruit bricklayers while 62% of firms are waiting for up to two months for new brick orders while almost one quarter are waiting for up to four months.
An additional 16% are waiting for a staggering six to eight months.
Mr Berry said: “The brick manufacturers are working hard to reignite their kilns which were mothballed during the recession.
“However, in the meantime, let’s make sure small local house builders are not overlooked in favour of large house builders when it comes to manufacturers meeting requests for new bricks.”
The organisation also expressed concern at the shortage of skilled bricklayers.
He said that compared to this time a year ago, more than twice the firms were now reporting difficulties recruiting these tradespeople.
Mr Berry added: “In the short term, many SME house builders may have to rely on migrant labour.”
East Devon Watch 