Construction Leadership Council calls on building material suppliers to explain price hikes, only 43 cowboy builders got prosecuted, and an electrician builds F1 car
The Construction Leadership Council has called on building material firms to explain recent price increases.
Conflict in the Middle East has driven costs up by over 5% in recent months.
While price hikes on energy-intensive products and petrochemical-derived items are justified, other cost increases are not.
The CLC’s report warned that further increases are likely from July as imported steel products become subject to UK tariffs.
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Just 43 cowboy builders were prosecuted in the last year, despite nearly 40,000 complaints by homeowners.
The report from Sky News indicates that Staffordshire and Devon had the highest number of potential criminal breaches, with more than 800 reports being filed with Trading Standards.
The research coincided with a parliamentary event hosted by the FMB to lobby the government for a builder licensing scheme.
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And finally, an electrician has taken the wreckage of a 2014 F1 monocoque and transformed it into a functioning racing car.
Kevin Thomas found the mangled carbon fibre tub following the collapse of the Caterham F1 team and has spent 10 years restoring it.
Although not road-legal, Thomas can drive it on a racing track, which is “everything he ever wanted.”
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