PBM rounds-up a number of the industry responses to the Chancellor’s recent Autumn Statement:
The BMF has welcomed the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement of a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce (EETF) to drive improvements in energy efficiency to reduce the UK’s energy consumption from buildings and industry, and to bring down bills for all.
The Federation notes that it has been calling for a long-term National Retrofit Programme to upgrade 29 million UK homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run. With the Government committing £12.6bn in funding- including an additional £6bn from 2025 – the EETF has an ambition to reduce the UK’s energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030.
John Newcomb, BMF CEO, said: “Soaring energy bills have focused attention on the need to insulate our homes. The Chancellor has had to make difficult decisions to support our economy, but we are extremely delighted that he has responded to this key issue raised by our industry, which will have economic benefits as well as meeting commitments on carbon reduction made at the COP26 climate conference.
“BMF members are already providing the materials, products and solutions required to create low carbon, energy efficient homes. We are ready to work with the new Taskforce and the wider construction industry to make retrofit a success.”
National Federation of Builders (NFB)
The Chancellor’s 2022 Autumn Statement highlighted the impact of global events on inflation, which the OBR predicts to drop sharply in the middle of 2023, and set out the Government taxation and regulatory strategy to take the country out of recession. However, it was light on much needed supply reforms which has held the country back for more than two decades.
CEO Richard Beresford said: “The Chancellor’s budget is a mixed bag for construction. Stamp duty cuts remain until 2025, red diesel access has not been reinstated but electric vehicles will lose zero rated road tax, energy independence has been made a priority, and investment zones may be watered down to focus on innovation, not placemaking.
“However, two rabbits were pulled out of the hat, on which the NFB lobbied for. Capital and infrastructure budgets will be protected, and a new ‘Energy Efficiency Taskforce’ has been announced. These supply side strategies offer positive opportunities and work pipelines for construction, and we look forward to inputting into how an energy efficiency strategy can be sustained by business and consumers, rather than always requiring government funding.”
He continued: “Despite highlighting that ‘infrastructure allows wealth and opportunity to spread across the nation’, committing to Sizewell C nuclear power thus giving investors certainty, citing a necessity for competition to break up monopolies, and championing a desire for skilled workers to mirror the achievements in Japan, Germany and Switzerland, the Chancellor did not focus on the need for wholesale planning reform as the underpinning factor for any economic and social recovery.”
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Housing and Planning for the NFB, added: “The planning process sustains our housing monopoly and strangles growth, which is why in places such as Japan and Germany, land use, regional planning, and permission certainty is a primary function of enabling opportunity. As well as ensuring businesses know there are commercial spaces, work pipelines, and regional strategies for them to invest in, their focus on planning certainty ensures places grow sustainably, housing supply keeps up with local demand and levelling up is a natural process, not reliant on taxpayer funding.
“The Government needs to practice what it preaches because it has spent the last twelve years avoiding coherent planning reform and therefore missing out on sustained growth. Revering Singapore, Germany and Japan is no good if you aren’t willing to risk some political capital by enabling their core supply side mechanisms.”
In response to the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said the it is good news that increased energy efficiency for all buildings is a top priority for the Government, but delivery will be key to ensure carbon reduction ambitions are met.
CEO Brian Berry said: “The FMB welcomes the strong focus on energy efficiency with the creation of a new Energy Efficiency Task Force (EETF) and an extra £6bn in funding. The industry stands willing and ready to help improve the energy efficiency of our existing buildings and will be looking to be an active partner in the Task Force.
“The appointment of an adviser on skills reform and investment in the education system to focus on improving vocational skills is also very welcome. Local builders have long been grappling with a shortage of skilled workers and now is the opportunity to properly invest in vocational skills routes and get more people into the construction industry.”
Brian concluded: “It is disappointing that no direct mention was made about the need to of boost housing supply at a time when we need more homes or to reform the planning system which is holding back development.”
