‘1.5 million homes is completely achievable – but they must be good quality’

Reader laughs. “It’s a group of MPs who are passionate about professional wrestling. We’re promoting safety in the industry, while championing wrestling as a positive, family-friendly form of entertainment. And maybe one day we’ll even bring WrestleMania to the UK.”

The built environment will certainly give him plenty of other issues to, ahem, wrestle with. His to-do list includes public procurement, helping SMEs, promoting modern methods of construction (MMC), building safety, skills, and of course, accelerating housing delivery.

1.5 million quality homes

The Labour government has set a target of delivering 1.5 million quality homes by 2029 and this is the subject of the first inquiry for the APPG for Excellence in the Built Environment, Reader says.

“Pace of delivery is important, but it must not come at the expense of quality,” he says. We’ve had an excellent response: over 40 written submissions from contractors, trade bodies, professional institutions and MMC providers, plus three oral evidence sessions. Our commissioner panel is cross-party and includes industry voices like Mark Robinson from Scape.

“This isn’t just about the quality of the housing product itself. It’s also about the quality of place – do these homes create communities rather than isolated housing developments, how do they promote sustainable travel, connect with green spaces?”

That report will come out in October. The next APPG inquiry is likely to focus on the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), Reader says.

“The BSR is a critical part of ensuring safety and quality, but there are concerns about how it currently operates,” he says. “Developers report that schemes get stuck in the gateway process and that delay affects financing, investor confidence and the ability to let homes.”

Is that early teething problems or does something need to change in the process?

“I think the process does need to change,” replies Reader. “The BSR’s approach has often been quite adversarial, based on the industry feedback I've had.

“One example has been highlighted to us of three mid-rise buildings, each with the same design, but different cladding colours. They were assessed by three different people at the BSR and one was approved, one was denied and, for one, more information was requested. It’s inconsistent. That inconsistency undermines trust in the regulatory system and adds unnecessary cost and time to development.

“The focus of our inquiry will be on promoting collaboration. The regulator should work with industry to ensure safe, high-quality outcomes.”

More broadly, Reader believes the government needs to “accelerate regulatory certainty”.

“For example, the consultation on construction products reform has closed now,” he says. “I'd encourage the government to get the results out quickly, because it is causing more uncertainty in the product sector.”

On the industry side, how does Reader feel that construction has responded to Dame Judith Hackitt’s call for a culture change post Grenfell?

“Slowly,” says Reader. “And it’s not just about industry culture – clients and councils must change as well.

“Culture change is about clarity, consistency and collaboration across the entire sector – regulators, clients and contractors all need to work together.”

Public procurement challenges

Reader spoke about the positive role clients can have at this year’s CIOB client champions event. But with HS2 shining an unwelcome spotlight on public procurement, does it need to change?

“Yes, I think it does,” Reader replies. “I’m already in discussions with ministers about this.

“One big issue is the way major programmes are bundled up and handed to tier one contractors or consultants. That centralises projects, pushes up costs and creates very long supply chains. I’d like to see more ‘de-bundling’ so SMEs can get involved directly.

“I was disappointed to see the number of SMEs working with Network Rail has gone down. They’ve moved towards large, multi-trade packages that only the big players can bid for. The SMEs end up as subcontractors further down the chain. It’s easier for clients, but it’s not better.”

Frameworks are another issue, he continues. “They made sense at first, but 15 years later, they’ve become barriers to SMEs, reduced competition and pushed-up prices. It’s a huge overhead for the industry too. When I was at Mace, we had whole teams just bidding for frameworks.”

There are good examples of public procurement though, Reader says. “East West Rail’s alliancing model, with Network Rail, contractors and consultants all working together, has delivered really positive outcomes: biodiversity gains, complex engineering on time and safe delivery.

“With the right client team, stability in leadership, proper risk-sharing and a collaborative environment, you can achieve great results.”

Mandating MMC

Reader feels that procurement is also “key” to promoting MMC, which he sees as “a fantastic delivery model, particularly for repeatable products”.

“There’s a role for the Department for Business and Trade through the industrial strategy, providing funding and R&D support, especially for smaller businesses who can’t afford the upfront investment. We see this in other industries. Large food and drink manufacturers I’ve visited are highly automated, but smaller firms still rely on manual labour.

“It’s the same in construction. Major players like Laing O’Rourke can invest in facilities, but smaller businesses need government support. If the public sector commits to a pipeline of MMC projects, that assurance helps everyone in the supply chain invest and grow.

“There’s scope for government to mandate MMC in certain sectors. For example, Homes England could require developers to explain why they aren’t using MMC if they want funding.

“Firms like Vistry are already driving this because they’ve got the scale and they’ve made it standard practice. That’s key. If leadership says, ‘This is the way we build, unless there’s a good reason not to’, then you get the pipeline to support investment and efficiency. It doesn’t work everywhere – you need space for deliveries, it’s harder on uneven sites – but in most cases it speeds up housing delivery.

“And with more institutional investors like Lloyds buying bulk housing for private rental, speed really matters. Combined with MMC, that investment has doubled delivery rates on some sites. The result is more homes, more quickly, for people who need them.”

MMC is one of several issues which Labour must focus on, Reader believes, if the 1.5 million homes target is to be achieved, along with planning, better access to finance for SMEs to diversify the supplier base – and skills.

“The homes target is completely achievable – but we must recognise we have a national crisis in terms of skills. And not just for housing, also the hospitals and energy infrastructure we need to build.”

The recruitment challenge

“I tell the story about how I’d go into schools as the liaison lead for Pick Everard 15 years ago and tell them we’ve got a shortage of bricklayers and quantity surveyors – join the industry and you can see the world, earn a decent salary,” Reader explains. “The kids were always interested. But here we are today and people are still giving the exact same talk.

“Government investment in construction skills bootcamps, technical colleges, apprenticeships are important. But there’s more to do. I think a GCSE in the built environment is vital. By the time you’re talking to young people at 16, it’s almost too late. Wales has already introduced a GCSE in construction and the built environment, and we should have the same nationally.”

Reader notes that “pretty much every firm” he knows goes into schools, talking about careers in construction, the whole spectrum of skills and roles on offer.

“But it’s not moving the needle,” he says. “One idea I’d like to see is a national recruitment campaign for construction on TV – just like the armed forces does. Why not have that for construction? Instead of hundreds of companies running their own campaigns.

“Some of the CITB levy could be redirected to fund a national advertising campaign.”

Government commitment to construction

Reader makes clear that the government has placed construction at the heart of its growth strategy.

“It’s a pro-building, pro-growth government, and we have the expertise inside Parliament to champion change effectively,” he says. “We have stability and genuine expertise at ministerial level. They get to understand the sector deeply and work on meaningful reforms.

Away from policy, Reader plans to use his parliamentary privilege to support the next generation through graduate and apprentice tours of the Palace of Westminster.

“We can arrange behind-the-scenes tours, often including colleagues from the construction team working on the estate,” he says. “Parliament is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a live building project in progress, an inspiring space to talk to young people about the industry.

“For any construction firm that wants to encourage or reward their apprentices or graduates, I encourage them to get in touch – it’s a real privilege to be able to offer this.”