Kersten Muller, Partner Real Estate and Construction, Grant Thornton UK LLP, commented:
“Today marked the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s first budget. As expected, a number of the announcements played towards the "levelling up" agenda trailed in the Conservative Party manifesto – the focus on investment into infrastructure, transport and housing. The range of focus included the building safety fund, significant additional funding for affordable homes, building on brownfield sites, 40 hospital projects and the fund to build new roads and maintain existing ones.
“The investment is undoubtedly needed and there is a significant opportunity to unlock even more funding from institutional and private investors to joint venture with the public sector. The initiatives to provide additional key worker and affordable housing are again laudable but a key question remains on how the additional homes will be delivered; there was no mention of investment into alternative delivery models (including Modern Methods of Construction for instance). At a time when the country is struggling with the required skills and potential disruption to supply chains, this has to be a key focus.
“There are some focussed tax measures, such as the extension of the structures and buildings allowance to 3%, which will further encourage investment into “bricks & mortar”.
“An announcement on Business Rates was widely expected…and help was offered for smaller businesses. We are very much in support of a fundamental review into the future of business rates and believe that this should have clear focus on the way businesses use property in the 21st century.”