100,000 ‘Starter Homes’ Included in UK Government Construction Plans

At Maxim Recruitment we like to keep ahead of developments in the UK construction market. This is so we can keep our portfolio of high profile jobs on exciting new construction projects up to date and offer you the best job opportunities in the industry.

What does the future hold for UK Construction?
There is no doubt that with an election looming next May, David Cameron is looking at ways to persuade voters to give him a parliamentary majority and talking up infrastructure improvements and house building seems always to be a vote winning issue.

Many were not surprised at his pre-conference speech last month when he announced he was planning to build 100,000 cheap ‘starter-homes’ in London if the Conservatives are voted back in in 2015.

He announced that these properties would be built on Brownfield sites previously set aside for commercial properties which would help keep prices down for developers. Other savings would be made by exemptions for taxes namely, Section 106 and Community Infrastructure charges.

He could be on the right track as a recent survey suggested that 41% of Londoners would like to see more investment in property from government ministers.

However not everyone agrees. Paul King now ex-chair of the UK Green Building Council says this policy completely negates the zero carbon homes target in place for 2016. This will leave a legacy of higher energy bills for the new home owners.

Young home-owners
The benefit to prospective home-owners would be that the homes would be offered for sale at 20% below market value and only offered to the under 40s. They will not be available to any other buyers.

Cameron is very keen to link this to their Help-to-Buy scheme so that young people aren’t shut out of the opportunity to own their own home.

Cameron confirmed: "I want young people who work hard, who do the right thing, to be able to buy their own home.

"These homes can't be bought by foreigners, they can't be bought by buy-to-let landlords and they can't be flipped around in a quick sale. They can only be bought by hard-working people under the age of 40.

"It's a really good policy and it goes alongside all the other things we are doing to get Britain building and make sure we have got homes for our people."

Boost for UK Construction
Should the Conservative party be reinstated in Parliament as either the majority party or as part of a hung-parliament, then this initiative will certainly go some way to keeping the construction industry happy.

However it comes at a price. Removing the burden of Section 106 and zero carbon requirements does nothing for sustainable buildings or keeping energy costs down for these home owners.

Fingers crossed for UK Construction
After  strong signs of recovery in the UK construction industry in recent times, 2014 has shown some weak patches and risks that could jeopardize sustained strong growth. Any policy from any political party that would give a boost for the industry can be seen as good news for both employers and employees in the construction industry in the UK. Decisions about which party will implement these changes and at what rate will now rest with the voting public in spring 2015.

You know where to look
Meanwhile you know that your first port of call for high quality jobs in the UK construction industry lies with Maxim Recruitment. We have a number of high profile projects on our books. If you haven’t been in touch recently with an updated CV or with details of the vacancies you need us to fill, please do so now ready for the rush following the Christmas and the new year break!

Please get in contact by calling us on 0870 243 0446 or submit your CV via the Maxim website

Adam Cadwaladr
Maxim Recruitment
UK office