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1180 Elliott Court Coventry Business Park, Herald Avenue Coventry CV5 6UB Tel: 02476 854980
info@bmf.org.uk www.bmf.org.uk
MPs press government on nutrient neutrality
The BMF attended a short parliamentary debate at Westminster last month on nutrient neutrality and sewage discharges into England’s chalk streams. Lib Dem and Labour MPs sought to press the Government for more determined action to solve this long-standing problem. During the General Election, the Liberal Democrats had made this a central part of their campaign. We wrote to dozens of them to
explain how nutrient neutrality has prevented the building of 160,000 homes - and the impact it has had on BMF members. We subsequently spoke to several MPs in person at their Party Conference in Brighton.
Many in Parliament regard the water regulator, OFWAT, and the Environment Agency as not fulfilling their enforcement roles properly. MPs from Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire,
Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex spoke with examples from their constituency. Minister for Water & Flooding, Emma Hardy MP, replied for the Government and set out current DEFRA policy on this issue. She reminded MPs of ministers’ intentions to legislate to tackle bad behaviour and poor performance by the water companies. Addressing nutrient neutrality is a key priority for the
Social Media launches for BM Careers
A wide-ranging social media advertising and promotional campaign to bring the BM Careers website (
www.bmcareers.com) to the public’s attention started in late November. It will continue in the New Year, bringing the building materials sector job and career opportunities to life and capitalising on key events such as National Apprenticeship Week (10-16th Feb) and National Careers Week (3rd-8th Mar). The BMF has also planned a BM Careers Press Launch in London, to take place on 5th Feb.
BMF members and other building materials supply companies can help us to amplify the campaign, which aims to dramatically raise the sector’s awareness levels amongst the general public, by getting involved with the website and participating and supporting our social media. There are three main ways for
Help to Buy success returns
£2 billion to taxpayers Our colleagues at the Home Builders Federation have evaluated the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme, which ended on 31 March 2023 - and calculated it is set to generate a return on investment for taxpayers of more than £2 bn.
The scheme was introduced in England in 2013 to address a lack of suitable mortgage finance which was constraining housing supply. During its operation, H2B enabled nearly 400,000 buyers to purchase new homes - 83% of which were first-time buyers. According to the HBF, over
£900m has already been generated from the initial 40% of fully repaid loans and interest payments. The data analysis found that the scheme created an unprecedented period of housing supply growth without creating a significant price disparity between existing homes and new builds. The HBF and others continue to urge the government to address the vacuum left by Help to Buy’s conclusion. They want a targeted equity loan scheme, supported by developer contributions, to enable buyers to access mortgages with a 5% deposit.
December 2024
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
you to support and participate in the BM Careers movement on social media. The first is to engage with the content posted on the main BM Careers social channels. The second is to use your own channels and voice to spread awareness further.
The third is to ensure you use the toolkit to align your own business channels and talent programmes to the programme. Our key social media objectives:
• Raise awareness of the building materials sector • Educate the key target
audiences – career starters, career changers etc • Increase click-throughs to
bmcareers.com • Utilise key dates – Careers and Apprenticeships
If you are a BMF member company and you are not yet involved please do go to the website (
www.bmcareers.com) where you can register to set up your Employer Profile page and where you can access the many support assets and ldon’t forget to ook out for our social media posts.
BMF Industry Forecast Reports
The Industry Forecast reports produced by the BMF provide a detailed review of the building materials sector. The forecasts are prepared using an array of market data resources by BMF’s Industry Analyst / Economist, Thomas Lowe and combine a comprehensive analysis of the merchant market performance coupled with further analysis of the key factors likely to affect merchant sales projecting into the future months.
The BMF forecast model was
originally developed to enhance the market data membership benefit and to support members in future planning by providing consistent updates on forecasted industry sales. The forecast model also aims to analyse any future trends that may be visible in the builders’ merchant’s industry. It has been developed significantly using an econometric model to project sales forecasts more accurately. • For further information contact Thomas Lowe
Thomas.lowe@bmf.org.uk
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Labour Government to unlock the building of new homes without weakening environmental protection, she added. Proposals for inclusion in the forthcoming Planning & Infrastructure Bill will be designed to accelerate house-building by using developer contributions to pay for local nature recovery. While this is a welcome step, we and the Home Builders Federation wait to see such proposals.
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