FMB Reaction To Rowntree Report
The Federation of Master Builders, (FMB), welcomes Professor Leather's work on home owners attitudes to repair and improvement. It complements his earlier report, 'Quality Repairs', which researched the supply side of this issue.
Both pieces of work report a lack of knowledge about how to plan for and organise repair and improvement work as the major constraint to higher levels of investment in the repair and renovation of the private housing stock.
The reports also point to limited financial resources and a failure to save or budget for repairs as significant restraints.
This leads to a 'make do and mend' approach by many homeowners and, as the recent report noted, a higher likelihood of bodged DIY work. Leather's earlier report highlighted an apparent unwillingness or inability to pay for quality work by consumers as well as attempts to reduce costs by trying to avoid paying VAT and dealing cash-in-hand.
Given that nearly 56% of people aged over 65 are home owners, that 21% of owners had, in 1989, an income of less than £150 per week and FMB's own research reveals that spending on repair, maintenance and improvement work is now lower than in the mid-1980s, this latest work raises important issues beyond the simplistic cowboy builder headline used to launch this report.
These issues include the low level of support given to prevent the private housing stock decaying further and other disincentives, such as the high rate of VAT, to private consumers to invest in repair and maintenance work.
FMB and others in the industry are already developing schemes to help consumers make a wise choice when they select a builder and to protect themselves against rogue traders masquerading as builders.
FMB would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with others to improve the information available to home owners and to help them plan for and organise building work on their homes.
