Places for London urging young people to work in the built environment

Transport for London’s wholly owned commercial property company has teamed up with Construction Youth Trust to create a new educational programme that will inspire the next generation to work in the built environment.

The new project, which was announced this week, is a collaboration between Places for London and its partners, including Barratt London, The Earls Court Development Company, Grainger plc and Helical plc. Working with its partners, Places for London will be starting on 20,000 homes over the next 10 years, making it one of the largest developers in the capital. 

Against this backdrop, Places for London has expressed its eagerness to use the scale of the programme to encourage more young people to pursue a career in the built environment – which encompasses both the construction and real estate sectors. This is vital because research has found that an additional 22,800 workers are expected to be required to meet construction demand in Greater London by 2027.

Thomas Glover, Construction Skills Manager at Places for London, said: ‘Alongside our development partners, we’re excited to work with Construction Youth Trust to engage more young people and their teachers, and show them that the built environment offers something for everyone.

‘We can show young people how they have a real chance to shape London and, more widely, the world around them. As an industry, we need to make sure we’ve got a pipeline of brilliant and diverse talent coming through to guarantee the places around us are the best they can be.’

Through their partnership, Construction Youth Trust and Places for London are aiming to reach 6,750 young Londoners through a range of inspirational workshops and intensive programmes to support young people progress into built environment careers.

When looking to recruit younger people, the organisations have claimed it could be an 18-year-old starting a degree level apprenticeship, or a 16-year-old going onto study a construction T-Level.

Carol Lynch, CEO at Construction Youth Trust, said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with Places for London to inspire young people to discover the wide range of career opportunities the built environment has to offer. Our aim is to support a new generation of young Londoners to become the leaders and professionals of the future by connecting them with employers who recognise that it makes business sense to invest in the capital’s diverse young talent.’

It is vital that the industry is acting, as research undertaken by YouGov last year for Places for London showed that only 36% of those surveyed between 11-18 in London and the South-East were interested in having a job in the built environment sector. The data was even more stark when broken down by gender, with just 30% of female students being interested, compared to 42% of male students.

However, Places for London’s past success has cast hope that more young adults will be interested in working for the built environment. Currently, the organisation has facilitated more than 1,300 hours of industry expert volunteering time through its educational engagement programme.

Image: Evgeniy Alyoshin

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