The large growth in the volume of house building activity in the past four years has provided a huge boost to the UK economy, says a new report from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and planning and development consultancy Lichfields.
The report, ‘The Economic Footprint of House Building in England and Wales’ indicates that economic activity from the housebuilding sector had doubled since 2015, from £19.2bn to £38bn. It also highlights that the sector has supported 698k jobs, including 239k direct (18% of UK construction industry). The report also reveals that £12bn has been invested in land for new homes and £11.7bn has been spent with suppliers.
Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF said: “The house building industry is a massive driver of the UK economy and makes a huge contribution to communities across the country. While delivering much-needed new homes of all tenures, house builders are quietly creating and sustaining jobs, generating receipts for the exchequer and boosting investment in infrastructure and amenities in villages, towns and cities. As well as becoming ever more reliant on private builders to deliver affordable housing through planning agreements, vast sums are ploughed into new roads, schools and community facilities every year.
“The unprecedented increases in housing supply in recent years have delivered significant benefits for UKPLC and the industry is investing in more land and people to enable it to go further and build more.”
Matthew Spry, Senior Director at Lichfields said: “We were delighted to be asked by the HBF to update our original 2015 report. In preparing our analysis we drew upon a wide range of official and well-established data sources, as well as engaging directly with house building companies including to capture information they assemble as part of Corporate Social Responsibility reporting. We have again identified the very significant economic contribution made by house building and how boosting supply to achieve the Government’s aspiration of 300K homes per annum in England will not only help improve access to housing for people across the country but also deliver a significant economic and infrastructure dividend.”
