Brick manufacturers are having to adjust to the reduced demands as the downturn in house builds continues, and the industry and its workers are feeling the effects.
Data from the Office of National Statistics shows that house-build starts went from over 200,000 in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 to 138,910 in 2024-25 and 155,650 in 2025-26. This is a significant drop and although there is hope on the horizon with the government's Social and Affordable Housing Scheme over the next ten years, the sector is struggling.
Workers from the industry addressed the Trade Union Congress in Brighton on Monday 14 September, warning that unless the government comes good on its housebuilding promises, more jobs will be put at risk.
Lewis Parmenter, Brickworker and GMB member, told TUC Congress: "An industrial strategy for housing is not complicated. If we don't build the homes, then the bricks don't get sold. They just sit there in the yards. And we can't make more bricks if the current stocks aren't being bought.
"The factory I work in has had six shutdowns in three years and another factory mothballed… And what happens when the jobs go? Our towns go with them."
The recent statement made by GMB Union claimed that 500 million bricks are lying unused in the UK at this time, which would be enough to build 50,000 homes. BMN reached out to GMB to qualify this figure, but we have yet to receive a response to date.
Numbers aside, the concerns are real with recent redundancies being made at brickmakers Ibstock and Forterra, and the announcement that Wienerberger is ‘mothballing' their Hartlebury plant in the West Midlands.
A spokesperson from Wienerberger said: "Lower levels of UK housebuilding have adversely affected brick demand during 2026, and challenging market conditions are expected to continue.
"To align production with current and anticipated demand, we are proposing to temporarily pause brick production at Hartlebury 2 and preserve the facility for a potential future restart when market conditions allow. We recognise the uncertainty this proposal creates for affected colleagues and are consulting fully with them."
The impact of the production halt is that 41 Wienerberger employees are currently in consultation, which is less than 2% of Wienerberger UK & Ireland's workforce.
Wienerberger also clarified that the reported figure of 500 million bricks in stock relates to the entire UK brick manufacturing industry, and the figure is not wholly attributable to Wienerberger.
Rob Flello, CEO of Ceramics UK and the Brick Development Association, said: "The house building industry has been in the doldrums for about four years now and that has a knock-on effect to brick makers as much as anybody else. But the capacity is there.
"We just really need government to take the necessary steps to get some demand going, whether that's financial support, getting consumer confidence, pushing the housing associations to use the money that's been promised to them, but just get on and build. The industry is just waiting for the go button.
"Taking piles of bricks as a reference isn't good. The ball is in government's court and GMB could really be putting some pressure on the government to get these houses started and get the consumers buying good quality brick-built houses."
With Building Merchants Federation and the Construction Products Association's recent call to government to focus on accelerating housing delivery across all tenures, accelerating committed infrastructure and public sector projects, and giving businesses greater certainty over the long-term pipeline of work, the industry as a whole needs continue applying pressure so that business can continue across the sectors and livelihoods won't be at stake.
