As the chancellor laid out the last budget of the financial year- and possibly the last before a general election- the UK construction industry has its say
After a week of hot anticipation towards the Spring 2024 Budget, the UK construction industry is responding the economic announcement and its contents- or lack thereof.
After the year of RAAC, many were expecting more infrastructure investment
Mark Robinson, group chief executive of SCAPE
“While the tax cuts announced today may offer short-term relief, the Chancellor’s decision to redirect funding from public services will have an impact on local authorities whose budgets are already under significant strain.
“The past year has shown the risk of under-resourced public departments, with the ongoing RAAC crisis highlighting the urgent need to take public funding and maintenance strategies seriously. This is vital to ensuring our public buildings can stand the test of time and continue to provide the spaces needed for communities to thrive.
“Clear policies for decarbonising public assets are also needed. As we move even closer to the 2030 net zero target, strategies for unlocking green investment for new and existing buildings are a must if we want to bring down the emissions and waste caused by the construction industry.
“Overall, greater efforts are needed to provide the necessary infrastructure for sustainable public building development across the UK.”
Not enough support to resolve the housing crisis
Melanie Leech, chief executive, British Property Federation, said:
“There’s little in today’s Budget for the property sector to cheer about. Further devolution deals are welcome as are the announcements of support for delivering more homes in a small number of places, but this falls far short of a bold strategy for delivering the homes needed across the country.
“Abolishing SDLT multiple dwellings relief will hit the build-to-rent sector at a time when the Government should be doing everything in its power to encourage more long-term investment into professionally managed rental homes. This will hinder rather than stimulate the efficiency of the housing market.”
Lee Bloomfield, chief executive of Bradford-based Manningham Housing Association (MHA)
“It is disappointing but not surprising that a commitment to build many more urgently needed affordable homes was absent from the Chancellor’s remarks.
“Alongside the six-month extension to the Household Support Fund, the well-trailed cut to National Insurance was welcome but it seems that will be paid for by phantom efficiency savings which, if they do not materialise, raise the prospect of further deep cuts to public services which are already in crisis.
“Those on middle and higher incomes will benefit most from the key Budget measures, particularly with the personal tax thresholds freeze remaining in place.
“Housing association tenants were far from the Chancellor’s thoughts.”
Mike Burton, land director at Metis Homes
“Centralising the solutions for BNG and nutrient neutrality would have also been helpful – it still seems counterproductive to me that developers are responsible for coming up with the bespoke solutions to these items on a site by site basis, benefiting only really their site, when money could be collected and invested by the government and councils into central schemes, that have wider benefit instead.
“It would make so much sense for the government to put some funding into this and take control of it – freeing up developers to get on with building housing schemes without these additional complexities. Moreover, it would allow the local authorities to create assets and infrastructure that would benefit the wider community and are more cost effective to manage.”
Changes to non-dom tax status may drive investment out of the UK, warned financial quarters in response to the Spring 2024 Budget
Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group
“Going into the Budget, we already knew that the Chancellor would announce a further cut to national insurance and extend a freeze on fuel and alcohol duty in a bid to ease the strain on people’s finances.
“We knew this because it was announced in advance, presumably in an attempt to get as much mileage from the good news as possible with voters who go to the polls this year.
“But the fact remains that the personal allowance – the amount people can earn before starting to pay tax – and the thresholds for the higher and additional rates – are frozen again. This means that as wages increase, more people will be pushed into higher-rate tax bands.”
“The tax burden in the UK is now to reach the highest levels in 70 years.”
“The Chancellor is dangling the carrot to potential voters by hinting at more tax cuts to come in the next Parliament – but only if the Conservatives win the general election this year.
“Against this backdrop of increasing tax burdens, and an economy in a deeper-than-expected technical recession, meaning less investment for businesses and jobs, we expect that there will be a growing number of hard-working people across the country looking for work and life opportunities overseas.
“The scrapping of the non-dom tax status is likely to be a ‘push factor’ from the UK, depriving the country of considerable direct and indirect investment as those affected are likely to simply move to more attractive jurisdictions.”
“In many ways the Chancellor’s Spring Budget was lacklustre. It was a flop and that which could be a masterclass in the Law of Unintended Consequences as it could push more hard-working people and investors out of the UK.”
Richard Besant, director at Powdertech
“The Budget was a curate’s egg. There were a few giveaways which were welcome, particularly around National Insurance, but more needs to be done to support UK businesses that are being hammered by inflation.
“A lot of what was on offer felt like too little, too late, geared towards the public voter than kick-starting UK plc.”
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