Chancellor’s ‘Mini Budget’ with its strong emphasis on economic growth is a gamble but offers hope to small builders, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB “The strong focus to ‘get Britain building’ by unlocking government surplus land and extending the stamp duty threshold to help prospective house buyers is a welcome boost in a tough market. However, at a time when we are building fewer homes than needed, more action is required to boost delivery of more high quality homes from small, local builders.” Berry continued “Although not announced by the Chancellor in his statement, we’re pleased to see a small step forward in improving the energy efficiency of homes in the Chancellor’s ‘Growth Plan’, which will incentivise energy companies to help customers upgrade their homes. However, what’s really needed now to boost local growth and skills is a fully fledged national retrofit strategy focusing on the UK’s 29 million leaky homes.” |
