Builders’ body calls on Reeves to scrap housing tax threat

​​​​​​​The Chancellor needs to scrap the proposed landfill tax quarry exemption, which will add up to £28,000 to the cost of homes on small sites, FMB says

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is urging the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to dismiss the Government’s proposed landfill tax quarry exemption, which will add up to £28,000 to the cost of homes on small sites in next week’s Autumn Budget.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: "At a time when the Government is failing to meet its 1.5 million housing target, the idea of an additional tax adding up to £28,000 for each new home on small sites is a nonsense.”

He argues that the Chancellor needs to act “decisively” and abandon the proposed landfill tax quarry exemption in her Autumn Budget on 26th November.

The measure, he says, will help all housebuilders, particularly the smaller local ones who are being squeezed out of the housing market.

“Just 9% of all new homes are built by SME housebuilders as rising costs and delays in the planning system are holding them back.”

Berry continues: “With inflationary pressures still biting and SME housebuilders facing rising costs and subdued demand, the Chancellor needs to focus on getting the housing market moving.

“Greater investment is needed to support underfunded local authority planning departments, as well as measures to incentivise building companies to hire the next generation of tradespeople. Funding for apprentice support services and financial incentives for small firms to take on trainees would help secure the building workforce that is needed to build the homes for the future.”