On November 22nd, Philip Hammond delivered his second budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Declaring support for the UK’s housing market, Hammond announced the Government “will commit a total of at least £44bn capital funding, loans and guarantees to support our housing market” continuing aid for development and infrastructure across the nation.

The housing crisis is one of the biggest challenges faced by Britain, with many struggling to get their foot on the housing ladder. First-time buyers benefited from Hammond’s stamp duty cut and, despite sceptic’s criticisms around house price inflation, Hammond has defended his policy stating that abolishing stamp duty will increase deposit-saving incentives.

While house-building and homeownership took a front seat in this autumn’s budget announcement, the skills shortage was also addressed in a bid to invest in education with a focus on maths and technology.

The skills shortage across the UK is well-documented, particularly within the construction industry. However, this deficit is reported to be most severe within the engineering and manufacturing sector. In this issue, on page 26 Richard Allen, General Manager at voestalpine Metsec, explains how the company is approaching the lack of skills from within its sector, while on page 22 Designing Buildings Wiki looks at the lack of knowledge across the construction industry.

I hope you enjoy this edition. Don’t forget you can also access all of the magazine’s features, product news and supplier information at your fingertips via Future Constructor & Architect’s state-of-the-art app. To download your version free of charge, simply search ‘fc&a’ on Google Play or the App store.