“I would ask how we will hit the 1.5m home targets that will ultimately improve health, education and financial inequalities in the UK? For those in the construction sector this is a major pillar of our future.
The Chancellor speaks of growth and stability, businesses are left wondering how we’re meant to deliver it when employment costs have just been substantially increased. The last budget saw a 1.2% rise in employer National Insurance, combined with a £4,100 drop in the threshold and a 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage, represents a significant hit to labour-intensive sectors like construction – precisely the industries expected to deliver the government’s ambitious housing and infrastructure targets.
Make no mistake, these costs don’t simply disappear into company accounts. After 40 years in this business, I can tell you exactly what happens: firms will have to make difficult choices about recruitment, pay rises will be constrained, and some projects will need repricing. For a construction company employing hundreds of people, we’re all looking at substantial additional costs at a time when we’re being asked to scale up delivery, not scale back.
You cannot simultaneously increase the cost of employment whilst calling for economic growth – something has to give. The infrastructure investment announced is welcome, but it needs businesses with the capacity and financial headroom to deliver it. This Budget makes that harder, not easier.”
