黑洞社区

There will be 拢7.6bn of new construction project starts in the Greater Manchester area over the next three years, with commercial and housing schemes driving growth, according to a refreshed construction pipeline for the region published last week.

Construction growth over the period will be driven by 拢3.2bn of housing projects and 拢3bn of private commercial schemes, as part of a total 拢9.5bn construction output pipeline for 2014-2017, according to the pipeline published by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC).

GMCC said an additional 拢3.8bn of project value had entered the region鈥檚 planning system in just seven months since its last pipeline update in November.

The pipeline includes 拢7.6bn of projects expected to start over the four years to 2017.

the pipeline also highlights projected skills shortages, particularly among cladding, steel erection, glazier and civil engineering specialists over the four years to 2017.

It reveals that a total of 65,564 workers will be needed at peak in 2016, with an average of 55,742 workers over the period. This is over 70% higher than the average requirement of 31,796 staff in the previous four-year period.

The pipeline uses data provided by construction analyst Barbour ABI, which is owned by UBM, the publisher of 黑洞社区.

Michael Dall, construction economist at Barbour ABI, told last week鈥檚 Greater Manchester Construction Summit (GMCS)that 鈥渢he pipeline鈥檚 market intelligence on workloads and skills needs will help firms plan their strategies better鈥�.

The leader of Manchester City Council Richard Leese told the conference he was bullish about the region鈥檚 economic potential: 鈥淲e can be confident about the future. There will be upward trajectory over five years and that will accelerate.鈥�

But he warned the region 鈥渉as a real issue with quality of housing鈥� and said volume housebuilders 鈥渘ever cease to disappoint鈥� with poor quality homes.

He said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no excuse for poor quality housing. It鈥檚 very important for the future quality of the city that housebuilders don鈥檛 see their job as simply building homes but creating places.鈥�

RIBA president Stephen Hodder, whose practice is based in Manchester, said the region needed to do more to 鈥渞etain talent鈥� in its construction sector and stem the flow of professionals migrating south.

He said: 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure there鈥檚 the capacity in the North-west. I worry about the ability of the professions to deliver as the sector returns to growth. I worry there鈥檒l be a weak link.鈥�