Group chief executive officer responds to the Spring Budget

Bjorn Howard, Group CEO of Aster Group, said:

“The talent gap in the housing sector is well-documented and policies that aim to re-energise the workforce and boost skills should be welcomed. Re-engaging people that have stopped working should be a focus for both the government and businesses. When finding ways to encourage people back into work, we also need to acknowledge why they left in the first place.

“Making training pathways more available to people of all ages is absolutely the right thing to do. We also need to incentivise businesses to provide a more flexible and inclusive workplace to help attract and retain the best talent into our sector.

“We welcome the Chancellor’s ‘back to work’ Budget but alongside this, we also need to see businesses facilitate more flexible support for workers that reflects their varying needs outside of work. This could also extend to menopause support being incentivised, and a push for better wellbeing programmes that make careers in housing more mentally and physically sustainable into the future. This will ensure careers in housing work for a wider range of people at different stages of their lives.”