With Genecon, we assessed the construction skills needed to build Northstowe, a new town in Cambridgeshire, and set out options to put skills at the heart of its development.
The Homes and Communities Agency (now Homes England) commissioned Genecon and Work Advance to examine the skills opportunities and challenges at Northstowe, a new town in Cambridgeshire. Once complete, it will provide 10,000 homes for a community of nearly 25,000 people.
Using the CITB labour forecasting tool, we estimated that building Northstowe would need more than 10,500 person-years of employment over a decade, with over 1,500 workers on site in the peak year. Around half of these roles would be non-manual, from engineers, surveyors and construction managers to finance and legal staff.
We set this against the regional construction workforce and local further and higher education provision. Northstowe's needs sit alongside several other major projects in the sub-region, an ageing workforce and widespread shortages in both trades and professional roles. Local colleges offered pathways into most in-demand occupations, but would need to scale up: few construction learners were on apprenticeships, and over half were studying below level 2.
We set out options to put skills at the heart of the new town. These included an employment and skills charter and delivery plan, procurement targets for local jobs and apprenticeships, a recruitment and training hub, and specialist on-site construction training. We also proposed a 'living lab' for sustainable building and modular housing, linked to local universities.
Many of these ideas have since taken shape, including the Northstowe NHBC Training Hub, opening in 2026.
Skills challenges and opportunities at Northstowe
Homes and Communities Agency (now Homes England), 2017
Heather Carey, Work Advance
David Tuck, Genecon
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