(Newswire Today) —  Kenilworth, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, 2008-05-28 - Several reports this week that major UK housebuilders are considering job losses and the postponement of projects have revealed that the construction industry will not be immune from the effects of the global credit crunch.

The Construction Centre said that there is a desperate shortage of new homes being built across the UK despite the signs of a serious downturn for the large scale housing firms and that it was essential for businesses to keep moving forward with projects. The online directory also confirmed that it had seen no reduction in its own traffic figures or enquiries to product manufacturers and suppliers which indicated that there were still plenty of areas within the industry not affected by the apparent downturn.

The Construction Centre also said that it was important for housebuilders to be cautious and take practical steps to protect their businesses however, the threat of job losses looming in an industry which is plagued by skills shortages could only serve to exacerbate the problems already being experienced across the board.

Richard Simmons, Managing Director at The Construction Centre said “The Construction industry seems to be one of two opposing halves at the moment. On the one hand there is a crisis in terms of shortages for housing and construction skills and on the other the threat of severe job losses and slump in the new build market. In addition to this we have seen no such downturn in visitors and numbers of enquiries going through the website for construction products and suppliers, in fact it is moving the other way.

Mr Simmons reaction to reports that new housing build volumes would be down 25 percent leading to 75,000 fewer workers needed in the industry was one of surprise. He continued “I understand the need for housebuilders to protect their interests but the bottom line remains that the UK is short of over 50,000 new homes per year. If the shortage in housing continues and housebuilders continue to reduce their output the UK housing market could be in serious trouble and will never stabilise.”

Both Redrow Plc and Taylor Wimpey Plc have already announced headcount reductions, with Barratt Developments Plc and Persimmon Plc reducing the number of new developments scheduled. The Construction Centre commented that if the major housebuilders continued to cut back the UK would certainly experience a difficult year ahead.

The Construction Centre concluded by saying that the industry was one of the largest contributors to the UK economy and it was critical to rectify the spiralling gap between what is needed in the UK in terms of housing and skills shortages and what is actually happening with cut backs and job losses.

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