87% of house builders believe that Welsh Labour Government regulation has significantly increased their costs, according to a recent survey conducted by the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats recently contacted all house builders in Wales. Exactly 100 house builders, consisting of both small and big businesses, responded in full to the survey.
Of the businesses that believed Welsh Government regulation had significantly increased their costs, 42% said that legislation would cost them in excess of £10,000.
Other significant findings in the survey include:
- 95% said that local authorities and the Welsh Government do not work well together in planning infrastructure developments
- 72% said they struggled to access available land for new development
- 45% said their business had felt the impact of the Welsh Government’s decision to scrap the planned ‘NewBuy Cymru’ scheme
Peter Black, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, commented:
“It’s a concern that 95% of house builders believe that local authorities and the Welsh Government are failing to work well together to plan large infrastructure developments which have knock on effects across council boundaries. It is also clear that many builders struggle to cope with delays and red tape imposed by local planning authorities. The whole planning system needs to be overhauled so as to streamline processes and ensure that we do not put off investors. I hope that the new planning bill will address these issues.
“Wales is in desperate need of new homes. The Welsh Liberal Democrats conducted this survey to discover what house builders believe is their biggest obstacle in providing those homes. It is clear that the majority of house builders believe that Welsh Labour Government red-tape is a major barrier.
“It can come as no surprise that nearly half of house builders felt the negative impact of the Welsh Labour Government’s calamitous mishandling of ‘NewBuy Cymru’. This was a Welsh Liberal Democrat policy, designed to offer help to potential home buyers. However, the Welsh Labour Government dragged its feet until it was too late.
“It is vitally important that the new ‘Help to Buy’ scheme is properly targeted so that new homes will be built. Wales is the only part of the UK where new house building actually has declined over the last year. This trend needs to be reversed.
“I am pleased that 100 house builders got in touch to let us know their views. It shows there are strong feelings on these issues.”
