A 'Hard Brexit' would cause uncertainty over the future of European Union (EU) construction workers in London, according to Mayor Sadiq Khan.

His 'Housing in London' report has revealed almost 100,000 of the capital's 350,000 construction workforce are from the EU.

Mayor Khan said if the Government goes ahead with a so-called 'Hard Brexit', it could leave a quarter of the skilled London workforce "high and dry", severely impacting on the industry's development plans.

In addition, a 'Hard Brexit' could also impact the housing industry, which according to Mayor Khan is in the grips of a "serious crisis".

With experts predicting London needs up to an extra 13,000 new workers each year until 2021 to plug the skills gap and meet demand, Mayor Khan said it was important for London to still be able to attract the talent it needs post-Brexit.


"When I speak to businesses - both large and small – one of the biggest issues they raise with me is the skills gap," he said.

"They tell me that maintaining a skilled workforce is absolutely crucial to their future and the future of the whole economy.

"London is in the grip of a serious housing crisis – and fixing it is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. While we are working to train up more Londoners to have the skills to work in construction, you can't escape the fact that a 'Hard Brexit' could leave a quarter of the skilled construction workforce in the capital high and dry which would have a crippling effect on our plans to build the homes Londoners so desperately need."

Mark Farmer, Chief Executive Officer of Cast Real Estate & Construction Consultancy, added: "It’s very clear that the construction industry is far more reliant on migrant labour than anywhere else in the U.K. To safeguard against this, London will require at least short to medium term continued access to EU migrant labour and early protections given to its existing migrant workforce.

"As part of a longer term plan, the construction sector, in partnership with developers and supported by the GLA, needs to come up with a clear strategy for attracting and training more home grown talent and also developing more modern, higher productivity construction techniques which are less labour intensive, helping to future proof the industry."

(LM/MH)