Support for housebuilding must be chancellor’s priority says CBI

The CBI says that housing should form the most important plank of this month’s budget statement, with support for both buyers and builders and people desperate to refurbish their homes.

The CBI has set out detailed proposals that might shift £2.2bn from current spending to high-growth areas, including yet another £1.25bn of capital investment in the course of the Affordable Homes Programme.

CBI director-general John Cridland said: “The government must follow its fiscal plan but now’s the time to kick-start confidence. Our measures will provide another boost for the housing market and may benefit first-time buyers, those trapped in negative equity and people seeking to refurbish their homes.

“To boost the development sector, we’re calling for fifty,000 new affordable homes to be built, incentives for refurbishing empty homes and the housing guarantee scheme to be extended to every kind of housing.

“We must supercharge the NewBuy scheme to permit second-time buyers struggling to get at the next rung of the valuables ladder.

“With its relatively short lead-in times, house building offers the foremost bang-for-buck in growth terms – unleashing pent-up demand, while creating jobs and growth.”

The CBI reckons that cutting tax on domestic renovation and service work “has the prospective to create 80,000 jobs at a price of not more than £500m”.

The CBI is likewise calling at the government to bring forward its road spending and service programme. It wants fast-track spending for the A63 in Yorkshire and the A38 junction in Derby.

Budget day is Wednesday 20 March 2013.