Homeowners across the Midlands and the East of England are putting off £2.4 billion of building work every year because they cannot find a builder they trust, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said ahead of next week's Budget.
It is the regional share of £11.2 billion of work being delayed across the UK each year, according to research by the FMB and the HomeOwners Alliance, which found one in five homeowners have put off work in the last five years because they could not find a trusted or quality builder.
Most of that work is not cosmetic. More than a quarter of homeowners having work done were upgrading electrics, plumbing or heating to keep their homes safe.
Small building companies across the region say planning delays and costs are adding months to jobs that homeowners have already decided to go ahead with.
The FMB is calling on the Chancellor to use the Budget on Wednesday 28 October to boost local authority planning capacity, including dedicated planning officers for small developers.
It is one of six measures the FMB is calling for in this Budget, alongside mandatory licensing of domestic building companies, mediation before Ombudsman escalation, development finance that small house builders can actually access, a lasting retrofit market, and support for small firms training new entrants.
Nicola de Sousa, FMB Central Director, said:
"Small builders across the Midlands and the East are telling us that planning delays and costs are adding months to jobs homeowners have already committed to, and it is homeowners who pay the price.
"If the Chancellor wants growth in every postcode, more planning officers, including dedicated officers for small developers, and a cull of unnecessary application requirements are among the cheapest ways to get it. Small house builders also need government-backed finance they can actually get hold of, to buy land, manage cashflow and bring viable sites forward. Right now, £2.4 billion of work a year is not happening here because people cannot find a builder they trust."
