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Construction levels haven’t been this low since the 1980’s. I wouldn’t know this personally as I was born in 1988, so really wouldn’t have taken this information in. But when you look at the graphs and numbers, it’s easy to see that the recovery is as anemic as a pigment-less person.
Construction is one of the most important sectors in our country. If we didn’t have the finance capital of the world, it would probably be the biggest. Which is why the government needs to make sure that construction industry is well supported.
Construction provides a lot of other sectors with a lot of their annual work. National window companies for example get a lot of their commercial work from new-build. But there are hardly any new houses being built. Even those that are go unsold as banks are being over-stringent in their mortgage policies. Then there are the plasterers, plumbers, builders, electricians, roofers and various other trades that get a lot of their work from construction. But if there isn’t anything being built, then there’s no work. Simple as that.
Banks have a part to play in this. There is a demand for housing in this country. People in their early to mid twenties, ready to move out, are needing housing. But the houses and flats that have been built are sitting empty because the banks are being so stringent on their mortgage lending, too much so. So if the current housing stock cannot be shifted, there isn’t going to be an impetus to build more for the youth coming through.
Construction is one of the most important sectors in our country. If we didn’t have the finance capital of the world, it would probably be the biggest. Which is why the government needs to make sure that construction industry is well supported.
Construction provides a lot of other sectors with a lot of their annual work. National window companies for example get a lot of their commercial work from new-build. But there are hardly any new houses being built. Even those that are go unsold as banks are being over-stringent in their mortgage policies. Then there are the plasterers, plumbers, builders, electricians, roofers and various other trades that get a lot of their work from construction. But if there isn’t anything being built, then there’s no work. Simple as that.
Banks have a part to play in this. There is a demand for housing in this country. People in their early to mid twenties, ready to move out, are needing housing. But the houses and flats that have been built are sitting empty because the banks are being so stringent on their mortgage lending, too much so. So if the current housing stock cannot be shifted, there isn’t going to be an impetus to build more for the youth coming through.
The Government is trying to spur on construction by introducing new enterprise zones around the country, but this isn’t going to be able to sort out the whole of the construction industry up and down the land. We need to banks to loosen their lending straps and start to move the flow of money around far quicker, otherwise there really will be a generation doomed to miss the first few early steps on the housing ladder.
>Banks lending money too easily in the past was the primary cause of the credit crunch in 2008/9 (all that "toxic debt" made up of defaulted mortgages), which in turn directly led to the recession we're stuck in. And when times are tough house builders tend towards high-end developments instead of affordable housing, because that's where the money is. Persuading the banks to lend to first time buyers is a good thing to do, but it's not going to kick-start an economy deep in recession. What we need is investment, either from outside or from public projects instigated by the… Read more »