In a speech today, CBI Director-General John Cridland will call for a boost to the housing market and construction sector to kick-start British growth.

He will call on the Chancellor to consider a number of measures to help first-time buyers, people who want to move up the property ladder, and the construction industry.

Bolstering infrastructure spending investment on transport, power stations and housing is one of the biggest and most effective levers the Government has to pull.

It will help unlock some of the £60 billion of potential investment currently on company balance sheets and could create new jobs into the bargain.

Last year the shadow chancellor Ed Balls called for a £12 billion investment over two years to build 100,000 extra affordable homes. He said it could create up to 750,000 new jobs.

At the Labour party conference, Ed Balls called for a repeat of the bank bonus tax again this year to build 25,000 affordable homes.

He also called for an immediate one year cut in VAT to 5% on home improvements, repairs and maintenance.

The CBI’s director-general will echo Ed Balls but not explicitly say he is essentially endorsing the latter’s plans.

He will say in his speech:

Owning a home has been a natural aspiration for generations of Britons since the 1950s. It has never been easy but after this recession, the high cost of property, strict lending rules and the need to save substantial deposits has put home ownership out of reach for all but the lucky few.

As we have seen, without a steady stream of eager first-time buyers the housing market stagnates and our whole economy suffers.

We look forward to the Chancellor paying attention.

Update: The Federation of Small Businesses has called for growth, tax breaks and apprenticeships, saying government is ‘out of touch with reality’.

Reader comments

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