KBzine: the original kitchen and bathroom industry e-news - since 2002
28th January 2021
We strongly recommend viewing KBzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.
Government must 'Help to Build', before Help to Buy, says property businessman
Property maintenance guru, Will Davies, has criticised the Government for not taking the 'Get Britain Building' fund seriously.
Will, who is the managing director of property maintenance firm, aspect.co.uk, says that the Coalition's general treatment towards the construction industry is 'embarrassing'. His comments come after it has been revealed that the £570 million 'Get Britain Building' scheme has only build 715 houses since its launch in November 2011. An initiative created by former housing minister Grant Shapps, its intention was to provide 16,000 homes in three years.
However, according to the Labour party, out of the 715 properties built, 47 of them are considered 'affordable.'
"Get Britain Building fund is meant to build homes, but yet has built just 715 homes. This is a massive own goal by the Government," he said.
"The Government should stop making up policies and not effectively follow up on them. I am dumbstruck by their treatment towards the construction industry. They should be embarrassed."
In order to get the construction industry back on track, according to Will, the Government should focus on building more affordable housing rather than fuelling the housing boom.
"They should realise that the Help to Buy scheme is a con until they concentrate on building affordable housing. Once they do this, then they can support first time buyers," he adds.
According to the charity Shelter, approximately 250,000 new homes are needed to be built each year to sort out the house shortage crisis. Will Davies says that it is the South East which is suffering the worst.
"Believe it or not, the South East is suffering massively due to the housing shortages.
"Many professionals are moving to London but house prices in the capital have just gone through the roof. Unless they can create capacity for people to be able to afford to move out of London but still be within range of the capital, there are going to be problems."
Will cites the proposed Garden City in Kent as an example which could calm the house shortages but he believes the government has given the public little assurances that this would be a guaranteed success.
"Building a Garden City in Ebbsfleet is all very well, but there is little guarantee that this would entice people to live there unless they're affordable.
"Affordable housing is in short supply and Get Britain Building should be the start of this."
aspect.co.uk operates a 24 hours-per-day, seven days a week service and uses the cutting edge technology to enable its workforce and ensure best customer practice, and high levels of performance. It employs a fully-skilled workforce - from handymen to qualified technicians, including gas engineers, plumbers, decorators and drainage specialists.
2nd May 2014