Builder shortages and the Construction Jobs Plan: what changes for extensions

Published 25 October 2026

If you are planning an extension or renovation

The shortage shows up in the schedule (builders call it the programme) more than in the price. On a typical single-storey extension the electrician comes at least three times: first fix, running cables once the stud walls and ceiling joists are in and before plastering; second fix, fitting sockets, switches and lights after plastering; and a final visit to test and certify the work. If the electrician cannot come when the walls are ready, the plasterer waits, and so does everything after.

Before you sign:

1. Ask the builder which trades they employ and which they subcontract. A builder with their own electrician, or one they use regularly, is less likely to stall.
2. Ask for a programme with dates for the first and second fix electrics and plumbing, not just a start and finish date.
3. Check the electrician is registered with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT. Building control will need their certificate before signing off the extension.
4. Read what the contract says about delays, and make sure stage payments are tied to work completed rather than to dates.
5. Do not choose a builder only because they can start next week. In research published in April, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and the HomeOwners Alliance found that nearly one in five homeowners had put off work because they could not find a builder they trusted. Look at recent jobs, check insurance and take up references whatever the start date.

What was announced

The Construction Jobs Plan brings together funding that had mostly been announced already, including the £625 million construction skills package from March 2025. It backs an industry ambition, set by the Construction Skills Mission Board, of 100,000 construction job opportunities a year by the end of this Parliament. The plan does not define a job opportunity.

For small firms, the useful parts are:

• A hiring payment of up to £2,000. In England, employers that do not pay the apprenticeship levy (a payroll tax on large employers, so this covers almost every small builder) can claim it when they take on a new employee aged 16 to 24 as an apprentice. It applies to apprenticeships starting from 1 October 2026 and is paid in two equal instalments, after 90 days and after 365 days (or 242 days if the apprenticeship is shorter than a year). The government’s guidance says it can be claimed on top of existing apprenticeship payments.
• Funded training. Training for eligible apprentices under 25 is fully funded, so the firm does not pay the college or training provider.
• Foundation apprenticeships. Up to 10,000 places on these shorter, entry-level courses for young people.
• Help with recruitment. CITB’s New Entrant Support Team can help find a candidate and a training provider, and shared or flexi-job apprenticeship schemes let an agency employ the apprentice and place them with different firms.

The plan’s own figures show why training is hard for small firms: 35.1% of the construction workforce is aged 50 or over, and almost all construction firms employ fewer than ten people. The plan says small firms often lack the time, money and help with paperwork that taking on a trainee needs.

On 15 October the FMB announced that the Level 2 General Builder apprenticeship standard is now available. It was developed by small and medium-sized firms and gives apprentices a grounding in bricklaying, carpentry, plastering and painting, which suits the mixed work a small builder does on extensions, repairs and refurbishments.

The National Federation of Builders was less positive about the plan. Its chief executive, Richard Beresford, blamed “stealth taxation, particularly in the construction industry” for firms shedding staff, and warned that without a better business environment learners would struggle to find employers to train with.

How short are the trades?

In Gleeds’ UK market report for the third quarter of 2026, reported on 16 October, almost nine in ten construction professionals said labour shortages were hurting their projects, and more than half said the effect was moderate or severe. More than a third named M&E as the trade with the greatest impact on delivery. Bricklayers, carpenters and groundworkers were also cited.

The shortage persists even though there is less work about. The Office for National Statistics reported on 15 October that construction output fell 1.0% in the three months to August. Repair and maintenance, the category that includes most home improvement work, fell 0.3%.