Brexit immigration rules will “choke off” labour supply - MPs

The housebuilding industry should be given special protected status in new immigration arrangements if it is to have any chance of hitting the 300,000 homes a year target.

That is the view of a new report from an All Party Parliamentary Group for SME housebuilders which reveals the concerns of smaller housebuilders about the government’s Immigration White Paper. The report finds that the 300,000 target will be “undermined directly” by current immigration plans, which will be a “shock to the system” and will “choke off the supply of labour”.

“The government’s Immigration White Paper in its current form will have a severe impact on the industry’s ability to recruit the migrant workers it needs,” says the report. “The government’s own immigration initiative could perversely be the reason why (it) does not hit its target for 300,000 new homes a year."

The APPG asks the government to:

· Set the skills and salary thresholds lower than currently envisaged, which is A level equivalent and £30,000

· Give the sector protected status, as with other sectors, recognising the skills of the housebuilding sector

· Extend the proposed waiver for low skilled workers to come to the UK to at least 24 …