Housing, infrastructure and productivity announcements were the Holy Trinity designed to save his job. Abolishing stamp duty for first time buyers is welcomed, as is some form of planning reform but there was a meagre sum mentioned for training and throwing money at the housing crisis will not solve the labour shortage or skills crisis.

Infrastructure investment is also welcome but we need concrete timelines rather than further hollow promises. Productivity is a complex issue and his comments on the role of digital enablement underlined that, as an industry, we need to help ourselves but again, short term improvement is linked to a guaranteed labour pool and Brexit has caused a stampede of trades out of the UK, something this government has exacerbated through their dithering. A stalwart attempt but not enough to instill confidence as we crash out of Europe.

Autor
Richard Steer Chairman Gleeds

Richard Steer
Chairman