Construction Industry

 The construction of new homes is both a barometer and a driver of the overall economy.  So we should give a double welcome for the news this week that new home building is currently running at 23 per cent ahead of this time last year, and is now at its highest level since 2007.

There are two very good reasons why this is good news.  First, it clearly shows a healthy demand for homes, boosted in part by initiatives such as Help To Buy, but mainly by a renewed confidence in the economic situation, employment stability, and an overall sense of optimism.

I’m delighted to say that at Abel Homes, we are having to run to keep up with demand; as I write, we have no completed homes for sale, as we are selling everything before it’s finished.  You can see the attraction for people of doing this – they get the plot they want, and they can have a greater input into the finishing detail, thus making their new home ‘their own’ before they even move in.

The second reason why this increase in construction is to be welcomed is because it is good news for the wider economy.  It is an accepted statistic that each new house that is built creates two construction jobs for a year.  In the last year, Britain’s house builders have constructed 122,590 new homes, so that is a considerable amount of employment created.

Let’s not also forget the indirect effect of all this activity.  Thousands of businesses, big and small, are involved in the supply of building materials.  In fact, around 20 per cent of all small and medium sized businesses have some sort of involvement in this sector – so the health of construction is a crucial part of the economy.

As a Norfolk-based house builder, we employ local people, and we try to give our business to local suppliers where we can.  So the Norfolk economy will be cheering the fact that not only have we brought forward the start of the second phase of our development at Shipdham, but we are to start building 82 new homes in Swaffham this summer, with two other sites near Norwich in the pipeline with a total of 110 new homes.

In 2013 we built more new homes than we have ever done before; in 2014 we will build even more.  That is excellent news for our fabulous – and growing – team of people; it is very positive for the many local suppliers to whom we give our business; and it is an indication that the housing market really is back on track, after several difficult years.

Above all, it is a big boost for the economy of Norfolk, and that is something we can all celebrate.