Work Starts on NHBC London Training Hub

Construction has begun on a flagship multi-skill apprenticeship training hub at Barking Riverside, as the industry steps up efforts to address a projected shortfall of 239,300 construction workers by 2029 and maintain housing delivery across London.

Backed by a £100 million investment from the National House Building Council (NHBC), the new home warranties and insurance service, the NHBC Training Hub forms part of a planned national network of 12 multi-skill facilities.

Together, NHBC’s hubs will train up to 3,000 apprentices a year in some house building trades to boost the construction workforce across the capital.

Designed to replicate real site conditions, the facility will train 200 apprentices each year in bricklaying, groundworks, site carpentry and timber frame erection in as little as 14 months, nearly twice as fast as traditional training routes.

The hub is due to open this winter.

Trainees for House Building

Barking Riverside, East London’s largest housing development, has been selected as the site for the London NHBC Training Hub. With planning recently approved in principle for up to 20,000 new homes in East London, the hub aims to train local people to help deliver them. The aim is to build a skilled workforce and support the local economy across Barking Riverside and the wider area.

Located on River Road, the training hub will be two-thirds the size of a football pitch. It is being delivered in partnership with house builder Bellway and Barking Riverside Limited, the master developer behind the wider scheme. The project is also backed by £1 million CITB funding.

Around 80% of activity at the hub will focus on apprenticeships, with the remaining space supporting upskilling for existing workers, traineeships, skills bootcamps, specialist masterclasses, and sessions for career changers and school students.

Roger Morton, NHBC Director of Business Change

Roger Morton, Director of Business Change at NHBC, said: “This training hub is exactly what London needs right now. Without more skilled workers, we simply won’t build the homes people need. Building 10,000 homes requires around 2,500 bricklayers, 2,500 groundworkers and 1,000 carpenters, and we don’t have enough.

“That’s why NHBC’s £100 million investment matters. Our network of 12 multi-skill training hubs will deliver up to 3,000 apprentices a year, trained in real site conditions from day one. This will create site-ready tradespeople in as little as 14 months, which is twice as fast as more traditional education routes, helping to speed up the delivery of quality new homes we urgently need.

“But training alone isn’t enough. Builders and subcontractors must take on apprentices to turn this into a workforce that can deliver at scale.”

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