Put housebuilding at heart of post-Brexit government policy, says FMB

Whoever gains power in next month’s general election must make housebuilding a national infrastructure priority across England once the UK has left the EU, according to the Federation of Master Builders.

FMB chief executive Brian Berry (pictured) said the federation’s Building for the Future programme was a call to the next government to focus on 12 key points of policy to support the construction sector in the wake of the country’s departure from the EU.

In addition to committing to building 1.5 million homes of all tenures across England during the next five-year Parliament the FMB wants more public land made available for housebuilding and for smaller construction firms to get more of the action.

Building companies would also play a key role in helping the government achieve a net zero carbon UK by working on retrofit schemes which were necessary to decarbonise existing housing stock.

And as part of a UK-wide set of policy ambitions the FMB called for all construction firms to be licensed in order to “create a minimum standard in a market where currently anyone can set themselves up as a builder”.

A new ‘general builder’ qualification in England would also improve professionalism in the industry, the FMB said, while the creation of a national retrofit strategy would set out how the country’s housing stock could be upgraded to the highest levels of energy efficiency.

Launching the programme the FMB’s chief executive Berry said: “In this Brexit election the main political parties mustn’t lose sight of the big issues facing the UK such as the current housing crisis.

“We are still not building enough new homes, and this has led to an affordability crisis and over-crowding. This election is an opportunity for all parties to publish ambitious plans to turn this situation around.

“Our programme for government gives 12 clear policies for each of the political parties to adopt to support SME builders. Politicians must not only give the country the gift of resolving Brexit this Christmas, but also a vision for the future of our built environment.”