The UK’s housing crisis is among the worst worldwide, not only because housing is unaffordable, often poorly maintained, overcrowded, and in short supply. But also, because opposition to new homes and planning delays makes housing less viable and hinders the training of new construction workers.

You might therefore think that setting up a temporary training facility on a strategic site delivering hundreds of homes would be quite straightforward. And while you might need to put in a new planning application, because it is temporary, for example, a covered shed and some portacabins, you’d get great support? More fool you.

On 21 February 2022, the National Housing Building Control (NHBC) submitted a planning application to Newcastle City Council. It took almost three months to validate it but just shy of two months to have it granted, on 23 June 2022. While the speed of the decision is welcomed, the twelve planning conditions (each costing £150 to discharge) are not. These include not being able to bring the site into use until cycle plans are approved and delivered, and for the wider site biodiversity, bird, and bat box plans submitted and approved. The hub officially opened in December 2022.

In Hull, NHBC applied for planning on 15 March 2019. It was validated a month later on 9 April 2019 and permission was granted on 19 June 2019. However, the facility could not be used until secure cycle parking, parking for mopeds, motorcycles, and scooters were approved. Ten conditions accompanied the permission, with a £116 charge per request to agree details. The application saw some variations over the years, with extra temporary cabins included. It officially opened on 12 October 2023.

In Cambridge, NHBC’s application was received and validated on 28 April 2022, with permission granted on 17 October 2022. This too, came with ten conditions, costing £293 each to discharge. These included no occupations until travel plans were submitted and approved, so that private motoring was ‘discouraged’, and cycle stands to be provided. On 19 May 2023, the Hub officially opened.

In Newcastle and Cambridge, despite supporting the delivery of large strategic housing developments, all personnel are required to leave the site by 18:00 hours on Mondays to Fridays and by 12:30 on Saturdays. Sites could not re-open before 8 am. This poses some productivity challenges on days with greater levels of natural light and is not a real-world experience, where construction workers are on the tools as early and late as possible.

The best has been saved for last. A planning decision which should have been saved for April Fool’s Day.

On 5 February 2025, Lichfield District Council granted permission for an NHBC training hub on a site delivering 750 homes. The application was submitted on 1 July 2024, but was not validated until 10 November 2024, resulting in a seven-month wait for a temporary training hub.

Sixteen planning conditions have been attached, including plans for the disposal of surface water and foul drainage, Habitat Management Plans, and prohibition of the Great Crested Newt licensing scheme, highways works including a push button crossing installed, and secure, covered, and safe cycle parking provided. Condition clearing requests cost £145.

But there is one final condition which exemplifies the true madness of planning: Lichfield District Council is restricting external construction-related works, including construction training, from between 9 am and 5 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am to 12:00 noon Saturdays.

Who knows when this hub will open!

The housing crisis will not be fixed unless we understand the sum of its parts. If we cannot quickly deliver temporary construction training hubs on sites allocated in local plans and with permission in place, how on earth can we build 1.5 million homes in the next five years, and how can we not end up reliant on foreign workers?

The Labour Government appears dedicated to fixing the planning system, but we’ve heard this before, too many times. We need to keep banging the drum so that April Fools isn’t our groundhog day.