The Government’s announcement that it will lower the threshold on the Builders Finance Fund to five units has been welcomed by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “The Government’s decision to open up applications to the Builders Finance Fund to the very smallest house builders is going to make a real difference to our sector. We know that access to finance is the main barrier to SME house builders increasing their output and the fact that Ministers have taken our advice, shows that government is committed to empowering small local builders and ensuring they can contribute to the much-needed uplift in new homes.

“We also welcome the government’s recognition of the need to reduce disproportionate burdens on small developer contributions and back its decision to waive S106 affordable housing contributions for sites of ten units or fewer. To put this into context, around a third of SME house builders state there are sites they would otherwise be interested in developing, but view as unviable owing to Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy contributions.”

Berry concluded: “I can’t stress enough how today’s policy announcements will impact positively on the ability of the SME house building sector to build more new homes. We are currently building fewer than half the number of new homes required to meet demand and these proposals will now unleash small local builders to build and grow.”