4 CONTEXT 182 : DECEMBER 2024 Periodically Regular readers of this column might note that, on relatively rare occasions, the publication dates of reviewed journals do not happily coincide with the writing of this column. This quarter is regrettably one of those occasions. The relationship between professional heritage management and the physical craft repair, alteration and extension of listed buildings is not always quite as seamless as would be desirable. There seems to be a number of heritage professionals who know their way around Section 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework, but who appear not to be conversant with the appropriate repair techniques, traditional materials and sound building construction that would lead to successful implementation. It is therefore worth highlighting the recent report commissioned by Historic England from Harlow Consulting, published in September 2024: Skills Needs Analysis: for the repair, maintenance and retrofit of traditional (pre-1919) buildings in England. This aimed to understand current needs for traditional building skills and identify actions for the future. It should go without saying to readers of this column that traditional buildings make a huge contribution to the character, local distinctiveness and sense of place to communities, and that retaining them is much less carbon intensive than new construction, and thus a vital component in tackling the climate emergency. Repairing, maintaining, restoring, altering and retrofitting traditional buildings therefore requires very specific skills and materials, but there has been longstanding concern about the availability of these skills, last audited over a decade ago. By collating all the available evidence, the current total demand for work on pre-1919 buildings is estimated at around £28 billion per year, of which over £15 billion involves the use of traditional materials and techniques. Meeting this demand is likely to a need a fundamental change of attitude to workforce growth from contractors and sustained development of traditional building skills among the specialist workforce. Currently, 60 per cent of contractors specialising in traditional buildings construction have been in business for more than 20 years and more than 90 per cent report using traditional materials (notably traditional lime mortars). Two thirds largely specialise in pre1919 buildings. They report high levels of confidence in their skills, with 84 per cent reporting that they were ‘very confident’ about working on Grade I buildings. Nevertheless, nearly two thirds of survey respondents reported charging a premium to work on older buildings, especially where this was their main focus. This is something heritage professionals should bear in mind. Unsurprisingly there is high demand for the specialist building contractors. Demand has grown in the last three years and is expected to increase further. This seemingly positive picture does not seem to be backed up by any likelihood of making the changes needed to increase the supply of traditional building skills. Few contractors reported wanting to expand their workforce. Twenty per cent of contractors report skills gaps, particularly with younger employees, and particularly in carpentry and joinery – a pointer for those working on timberframed buildings? Nearly 20 per cent of contractors report turning down work due to skills shortages. Overall, on the supply side, the evidence points to an older workforce (relatively few workers aged 35 or under), with concerns about future capacity and longer-term sustainability of the supply of skilled workers. On the demand side, a fundamental intervention is likely to be required to support workforce growth and sustained development of traditional building skills among the specialist workforce. The English Housing Survey suggests that nearly a third of pre-1919 homes fail to meet the decent homes standard and there is evidence of large backlogs of repair and maintenance, while it was estimated in 2020 that the cost of remedying the defects was around £13 billion. This represented nearly 40 per cent of the outstanding repair liability for all homes, irrespective of the nation’s ambition and need for buildings to help achieve net zero carbon. There is little evidence to suggest that current training provision is adequate enough to sustain the existing level of skills, let alone that required for any major expansion. The recent survey has also highlighted that informal on-the-job training and practical experience were consistently the primary means for gaining specialist traditional building construction skills, with
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