{
  "id": 7346505,
  "title": "500m bricks ‘just sitting there’ as 1.5m homes target looms",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/500m-bricks-just-sitting-there-as-1-5m-homes-target-looms",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-14T15:29:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/500m-bricks-just-sitting-there-as-1-5m-homes-target-looms/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Half a billion bricks lie unused in Britain, fueling mounting pressure on the government's ambitious \"stretch target\" of constructing 1.5 million homes by the next election. The GMB Union has highlighted that 500 million bricks – enough to build 50,000 homes – are \"just sitting there\" in factory yards across the nation. The revelation comes as London's leading housebuilders scale back land acquisitions and express concerns over profits, with escalating supply costs and soaring mortgage rates due to the Iran conflict affecting their balance sheets and homeowner demand. Workers from various sectors have cautioned the government that failing to intensify efforts to meet this target could jeopardize jobs nationwide. Lewis Parmenter, a brickworker, emphasized during GMB's congress on Monday, \"Right now, there are 500m bricks sat unused in factory yards across this country. You heard it right – 500m bricks just sitting there. That is enough to build 50,000 average-sized houses – or ten small towns. Enough to provide homes for hundreds of thousands of people.\" However, without ground broken to construct these homes, the industry risks collapse, potentially resulting in 8,000 job losses, including his own. The government's objective of building 1.5 million homes by the next general election necessitates constructing 300,000 houses annually, a rate not witnessed in decades. Currently, only 203,000 homes were built in the 12 months leading up to June, significantly falling short of this projected pace, according to BBC data. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has not ruled out the possibility of missing this target, acknowledging that it stands only a \"slim\" chance of being met. Rayner attributed the slow progress to \"headwinds\" caused by the Iran war, stating, \"It's a slim chance, but I'm definitely not giving it up. I think it's really important that we keep a target, that it was always a stretch target.\" She highlighted the government's recent allocation of £10 billion to its social and affordable homes program, which has accelerated home starts by 15% compared to the previous year. Nonetheless, Rayner acknowledged that international developments and rising construction costs pose a negative impact on this target.",
  "summary": "There are half a billion bricks lying unused in Britain, it has been revealed, piling fresh pressure on the government’s “stretch target” of building 1.5m homes by the next election. As many as 500,000,000 bricks – enough to build 50,000 homes – are “just sitting there” in factory yards across the country, the GMB Union [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}