CBI: Credit key to protecting housebuilders

Posted: 16 Jan 2009 12:20:29 GMT

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has claimed that, without government help to ease the problems of housebuilders obtaining credit, there is a risk of long-lasting damage to the housing market and the economy as a whole.

Mr McDonough, the CBI's Construction Council chairman, praised the government for taking some steps to help the industry but also criticised it for not doing enough to ensure the success of the sector.

"Access to credit has tightened considerably over the last few months and we urgently need to get lending working across the whole of the economy," he said.

"Unless the government takes bold steps to kick-start lending across the board, we will see more construction firms going under and more skilled jobs lost, which will be difficult to replace when demand picks up again."

A drop in the supply of homes may appear attractive to homeowners hoping to sell their own property, as such a fall in supply could increase house prices.

However, there is little chance that such a phenomenon would occur in the near future, meaning homeowners will have to find other ways to increase the sale price of their home.

Selling a property online could attract a higher price due to a larger number of buyers seeing the property advertised.



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