UK property market recovery results in creation of jobs for young people

Property prices are rising, lenders are approving more mortgages and now one of the UK’s leading home builders is creating 225 new jobs.

Persimmon Homes has announced it is recruiting for 225 young people to join the business. The new jobs will be spread across its 24 regional businesses in England, Wales and Scotland and includes 125 brick laying and joinery apprentices, 50 trainee sales advisors and 50 graduate/trainee technical staff.

It is yet another sign that the property and construction sector is coming out of the downturn, albeit slowly.
 
‘This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to join a thriving business,’ said chief executive, Jeff Fairburn who began his own career at the age of 17 on a Youth Training Scheme in the construction industry and many of the current directors in the business also began their careers straight from school.

‘We work hard on our training programmes and enjoy sharing our knowledge with young people and progressing them through the business. You never know, one of these young people may be our future chief executive in years to come,’ he added.

A new report carried out by Persimmon has found that young adults may be basing their futures on inaccurate perceptions that could affect their job expectations, salaries and career paths.

Despite the staggering increase in fees and lack of prospective job opportunities, Persimmon’s research shows that 70% of 12 to 18 year olds still hope to go to University and young adults have negative expectations of apprenticeships, which can lead to them making uninformed education and career choices.

Although there has been a positive increase in the numbers of young adults now starting their career as an apprentice, research shows that there are still overwhelming numbers of 12 to 18 year old across the UK who are unaware about apprenticeships or have misconceived perceptions about the benefits they offer.

Fairburn believes that being uneducated about apprenticeships as a career option leaves young adults with less options and may hold them back from meeting their career goals. ‘My own experience of starting work at 17 has been a positive one. We’re delighted to be giving young people the opportunity to join us,’ he said.

Persimmon’s recruitment drive comes just a few weeks after the business announced an update ahead of its half year results, which will be released on 20 August 2013. The Group legally completed 5,022 new homes in the first six months of 2013, a 7% increase on the first half of 2012.

The UK government’s Help to Buy share equity scheme, introduced in April 2013, has generated a positive response from prospective home buyers, bringing additional momentum to the traditionally stronger spring sales season.

 Persimmon’s forward sales are 19% ahead of this time last year. At the end of June the value of forward sales was around £920 million compared with £774 million in 2012. Private sales forward revenue was around24% ahead of last year whilst the value of housing association forward sales increased by around 10%.

The company has opened 90 sites in the first half of the year and plans to open a further 85 in the second half of the year.