Monday 15th August 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The sharp decline in work for small builders working in the repair and maintenance sector in the second quarter of 2011 highlights the perilous situation facing construction small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This is the response from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) to the latest report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on construction activity in the three months to June.
Richard Diment, Director General of the FMB said:
“Unfortunately the ONS figures showing that repair and maintenance work fell by 6.1% quarter on quarter in the public housing sector and by 2.5% in the private housing sector comes as no surprise as the FMB’s quarterly State of Trade Survey, the only survey of construction SMEs, shows that their workloads have been falling for more than three and a half years. For the many thousands of small businesses in the construction industry this type of work is their main source of income which is why this latest figures are so concerning.”
Diment continued:
“More significant levels of growth are needed to help the construction industry recover from the dreadful decline in the last quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. This cannot be achieved while particular sectors of the industry are performing so badly. The Government continues to suggest small businesses will benefit from increased workloads thanks to the Green Deal which launches in October 2012, but even if this turns out to be the case many can’t hang on that long.”
Diment concluded:
"The Government must do everything it can to encourage responsible lending by the banks to homeowners looking to improve. It should also make repairs in the private and public housing sectors more affordable by reducing the rate of VAT to 5% on all residential repair, maintenance and improvement work. Regular maintenance of the building stock is a more cost effective way for the public purse to avoid higher costs in the future."
