{"id":108267,"date":"2025-09-02T03:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T03:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108267\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T03:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T03:33:13","slug":"there-are-no-incentives-to-buy-or-move-home-reeves-warned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108267\/","title":{"rendered":"There are no incentives to buy or move home, Reeves warned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tMonday 01 September 2025 12:26 pm\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\"\"\t\tChancellor Rachel Reeves has been issued a warning by the BMF. (Photo by Oliver McVeigh \u2013 Pool\/Getty Images)\t<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned there are no incentives for people to buy or move home and that the Labour government needs to take action to \u2018tackle the malaise\u2019 in the building materials industry.<\/p>\n

John Newcomb, CEO of national trade body BMF (Builders Merchants Federation), added that \u201cimmediate intervention is now needed to thwart long-term stagnation\u201d as Reeves prepares to deliver her second Budget<\/a> next month.<\/p>\n

His comments come as a new report from the BMF revealed \u2018stalled recovery, stagnant consumer spending and severe regional disparities\u2019 in a market considered a key economic bellwether.<\/p>\n

The figures reveal two consecutive quarters of value growth of only 1.9 per cent for the first six months of 2025 compared to the\u00a0first half of 2024, driven by increased volume (four per cent), as prices were down by two per cent.<\/p>\n

\u2018The outlook is far from certain\u2019, Reeves told<\/p>\n

The BMF has members with combined sales of \u00a351.6bn and who employ nearly 198,000 people.<\/p>\n

Newcomb said: \u201cWhile these figures confirm sales growth for the second successive quarter, following two years of consistent declines, the outlook is far from certain.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last two years, a pattern of inactivity has emerged, which is a concern not only to this market sector, but to the wider UK economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is compounded by the fact that while market volumes have been boosted by the dry and hot Spring season, which led to an extension of decent weather into the summer, sales values have been lacklustre due to the deflationary environment we are currently experiencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that everyone is waiting for the confidence to commit to new projects, but interest rates, mortgage costs, and economic uncertainty have frozen consumer activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople aren\u2019t spending and currently there\u2019s nothing happening that\u2019s going to kickstart the market.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n

\t\t\tFintechs lobby Rachel Reeves for tax incentives to boost listings<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no incentives to buy or move home, while the cost-of-living crisis means that, increasingly, consumers are saving for emergencies rather than bigger investments in their properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018If the UK isn\u2019t building, the nation\u2019s wider economy isn\u2019t moving forward\u2019<\/p>\n

The BMF is now calling for government intervention to \u201ckick\u2011start consumer spending, drive demand, improve housing stock and balance out the pattern of regional differences emerging across the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n

Newcomb added: \u201cWithout government intervention, our sector will continue to reflect the malaise of the broader economy and risks an extended period of stagnation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the UK isn\u2019t building, the nation\u2019s wider economy isn\u2019t moving forward, but government incentives and a national retrofit strategy could redress the balance of market demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch action would stimulate the market and ultimately support the government\u2019s house-building plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could also tackle regional variances which have seen the North East outperform London for sales growth of building materials in the latest BMBI report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis divide highlights the growing disparity in confidence and investment across the UK, and the inability of market forces alone to rebalance demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Figures from the latest BMBI report follow the July S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Index (PMI)\u00a0survey data, which revealed that UK construction activity had fallen at its sharpest rate in over five years.<\/p>\n

Newcomb said: \u201cThe PMI reported a considerable slump in the UK construction sector at the start of the third quarter, with total industry activity levels falling at the steepest pace since May 2020, the height of the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen consumers and businesses feel optimistic about the economy, they are more likely to spend and invest, fuelling growth and job creation, but the current climate of uncertainty is constraining the conditions required for sustained growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n

\t\t\tGilts back to where they were before Rachel Reeves\u2019 tears<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\tPeople & Organisations\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monday 01 September 2025 12:26 pm Share Facebook Share on Facebook X Share on Twitter LinkedIn Share on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[52541,52542,52543,458,52544,84,40182,1294,12253,52545,52546,52547,52548,52549,7338,50,2295,1445,51544,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-108267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-autumn-budget","tag-autumn-budget-2025","tag-bmf","tag-budget","tag-builders-merchants-federation","tag-business","tag-chancellor-rachel-reeves","tag-economy","tag-house","tag-house-buyers","tag-house-buying","tag-house-market","tag-house-sales","tag-house-sellers","tag-houses","tag-news","tag-property","tag-rachel-reeves","tag-reeves","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}