News article 25/07/2012

(Issued 25 July 2012) 

Responding to today’s UK GDP figures which highlight continuing contraction in the economy driven by weakness in the construction sector which fell by 5.2% in Q2, Chief Executive of home building industry body Homes for Scotland Philip Hogg said:

“These statistics make for very disappointing reading, coming as they do on the back of last week’s Scottish figures which showed a 7% fall in construction output and other official figures which revealed that nearly 50,000 construction sector jobs had been lost in Scotland during 2008 – 2011.

“Despite our population now being at its highest ever level and the number of new households projected to rise by over 21,000 a year only 15,000 new homes were completed in Scotland last year. This represents a fall of more than 40% since 2007.

“With every new home built supporting four jobs and every nine homes one apprenticeship, the benefits of increasing housing production would be immense both in terms of investing in new stock and job creation. If output were to return to pre-downturn levels, this could mean more than 40,000 employment opportunities and 1,200 apprenticeships across the country.

“By maximising investment in housing and continuing to remove barriers to development, the Scottish Government can help us provide much needed new homes whilst also driving down unemployment and delivering warm sustainable homes to tackle fuel poverty.

“But, as today’s figures demonstrate, the UK Government needs to take more urgent action to stimulate the wider economy and boost consumer confidence, particularly in relation to ensuring that constraints on corporate lending and the flow of mortgage finance, which continue to hamper recovery in our sector, are removed by banks.”