Get Wales Building

Get Wales Building - a 10 point plan to revitalise the Welsh construction industry

We feel that current proposals to deal with this desperate situation do not go far enough in tackling the real problems affecting the UK construction industry. As such the Get Britain Building Coalition has drawn up a 10 point plan to rescue the industry, and in doing so preserve the jobs, businesses and skills that are so essential to creating and maintaining our built environment.

The 10 points

1. The UK Government must cut VAT from 20 per cent to five per cent for all building repair and maintenance work

2. The Welsh Assembly must rapidly develop and implement a coherent strategy to deal with the existing housing stock in Wales and move quickly to implement the recommendations of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on rural housing in Wales; bringing empty homes back into use and making Wales’ existing housing stock more energy efficient

3. UK Government and the banks must ensure the swift return of responsible lending to prudent borrowers, coupled with the reintroduction of mortgage interest tax relief

4. The Welsh Assembly must set targets for all Welsh local authorities to identify and release land for social housing sufficient to ensure completion of 6,500 units of affordable housing by 2011, as recommended in One Wales.

5. Central Government must work closely with devolved administrations to drive forward planning reform

6. Central Government must work closely with devolved administrations to publish public sector spending plans for construction and maintenance of schools, hospitals and prisons to ensure that these projects are completed on schedule

7. Planning authorities must introduce a section 106 agreement holiday with a subsequent cap on their value; abandon any plans to adopt the proposed Community Infrastructure Levy, in order to make homes more affordable and stimulate development.

8. Public sector bodies must pay their contractors in accordance with Government guidelines and ensure through contract terms that contractors pay their subcontractors with the same punctuality

9. The Government must reform stamp duty so that it is only applied to the proportion of the value of the house which is in excess of the taxation threshold

10. The Government must reintroduce empty property rate relief