Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
A National Retrofit Strategy is required to boost the domestic repair and maintenance sector in construction, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). This is in response to the construction ONS data published today which demonstrates a 3% decline in private housing repair and maintenance.
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “Homeowners are holding off upgrading and improving their homes due to political and economic uncertainty. The increase in construction output seen in Quarter 3 masks the fact that the repair and maintenance sector has contracted. This contraction in the private domestic sector even led to a fall in output in September, compared to the previous month. At a time when the Government has set an ambitious target of net zero carbon by 2050, we need to be rolling out energy efficiency measures across our existing housing stock.”
Berry concluded: “In order to boost consumer confidence, the new government must create a National Retrofit Strategy that sets out how to encourage home owners to upgrade England’s housing stock to the highest levels of energy efficiency.”
