Government holding back construction

The government is holding back the construction industry.

That is according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), which has claimed that although there has been an increase in new constructions, the government could still do more.

Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the FMB, said that the problem with mortgage liquidity was one issue.

"Another big issue is … billeting and what I mean by that is the additional costs that house builders are up against at the moment, for example the move towards zero carbon homes by 2016 is actually adding on additional costs of about £30,000 per property," he said.

His final problem was that it was difficult to find "sufficient land with building permission".

Last week Communities and Local Government claimed that there was a 63 per cent increase in the number of housing starts constructed in England in the second quarter of 2009.