8 COMMENT THE INDUSTRY ADVOCATE


WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2020


Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders


Brian Berry of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) takes a look at what he believes will be the key issues for SME builders in 2020.


N


ow that much of the noise around Brexit has died down, the Government’s atten- tion has turned to domestic issues such


as housing. There have been many different policy ideas bandied around, but what changes are we likely to see which will impact SME developers, for better or for worse? Here are some of the key things to look out for in 2020.


GREEN BUILDING With the Government having legislated for net zero last year, and the COP Climate Conference taking place in Glasgow later this year, we should expect to see lots of announcements and policy changes related to the environment and cutting carbon emissions. The built environment contributes around 40


per cent of all carbon emissions, so it is not surprising this will be an area of focus for the Government. The consultation on changes to Part L (energy


efficiency) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations took place this year, and an initial uplift in the regulations is due to take place later this year. If the Government’s preferred option is chosen this will see a reduc-


tion of 31 per cent in CO2 compared with 2013 regulations, which will require PV to be installed or low carbon heating such as an air source heat pump. Similar regulations are planned for Wales too. While ensuring our new build housing stock


REFORM OF THE PLANNING SYSTEM WILL BE A MAJOR FOCUS


WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


is low carbon, the Government shouldn’t lose sight of the 27 million homes that have already been built that will need retrofitting, and we hope to see some more strategic thinking on this.


PLANNING REFORM Reform of the planning system will be a major focus for this Government. This will be welcome news to many SME housebuilders who have suffered from delays in the system. We know from our House Builders Survey that for 42 per cent of SMEs planning is a major barrier. The main reason for delay is cited as poor resourc- ing of planning departments by the majority of


SMEs, with many local authorities struggling to recruit and retain good planning officers, and therefore being unable to deliver a quick and effective service. While fees were increased in 2018, only 3 per cent of our members have seen an improved delivery. At the time of writing, the Government is planning to publish a planning White Paper, which is set to outline some radical policies to speed up the planning system. We hope this White Paper will address some of the difficult decisions and trade-offs that will need to be made to ensure our planning system works well not just for large housebuilders, but for SMEs too.


SKILL SHORTAGES EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY While construction skill shortages eased slightly in 2019 due to a slowdown in the market, as activity picks up in 2020 it will become harder to find good quality trades. According to the recent FMB housebuilders survey, a shortage of skilled staff is expected to be the third major barrier to housebuilders building new homes over the next three years. Bricklayers are the highest trade in demand with 54 per cent of SMEs struggling to recruit, followed by carpen- ters at 52 per cent and site managers at 41 per cent. This is expected to be exacerbated by the new Points Based Immigration system being introduced in January 2021, which will limit “low skill” migration. SME builders should therefore plan ahead


and take advantage of apprenticeship “co- investment” funds that cover 95 per cent of training costs for SMEs to train up new talent. There are now a number of ‘trailblazer’ appren- ticeship standards in construction for all different types of trades such as those devel- oped by FMB (bricklaying and construction). SMEs will need to stay on top of a flurry of


policy changes over the coming years. Some regulations will be challenging, but others will hopefully make things easier. We at the FMB will continue to make the case for boosting the SME housebuilding sector and will work with the Government to find solutions.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52