![]() ![]() Modi would later allude to another Hindu epic, Mahabharata, in equating the challenge of the 21-day initial lockdown to the 18-day battle.īarely four hours after his announcement on March 24, at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world slept, India went into its first coronavirus-induced lockdown. (Imagine) there is a Lakshman Rekha on your doorstep.” High interest rates also hammered housebuilding in Germany, where residential construction in April plunged at the fastest rate since 2012.When Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared on national television at 8 pm on March 24, 2020, to address the nation on the outbreak of the coronavirus, an air of trepidation was palpable across the length and breadth of the country.Īlluding to the Hindu epic, Ramayana, the Prime Minister said, “For 21 days, forget what is stepping outside. ![]() An increase in commercial work and civil engineering meant the overall construction PMI rose in April to 51.1, marking growth for the third month in a row. Housebuilding was an outlier in the construction sector. The drop in housebuilding came despite improvements in the supply chain, with lead-times for the delivery of materials dropping at the fastest rate since September 2009. With a further rate rise expected next week there will be concerns that things will get worse before they get better for UK house builders.” The removal of this funding will depress housing construction going forwards.ĭr John Glen, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), said: “It becomes clear that the recent interest rate rises will continue to hamper consumer demand for some time to come. The end of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, which supported around 50,000 new build home sales a year until it ended in March, has also removed a major source of developer funding. New building regulations that will apply from July will further constrain housing construction, while mortgage rates are likely to rise higher, further weakening demand, Mr Tombs said. ![]() Samuel Tombs, of Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “We expect the downturn to gather more momentum in Q3.” This would be just half of the Government’s target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. Tory MP Simon Clarke has also criticised Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, for being “anti-business” regarding his plans to introduce planning permission requirements for short-term lets.Ī report by planning consultancy Lichfields, commissioned by the Home Builders Federation, warned that the Government’s planning policies would see house building in England drop from 233,000 to 156,000 a year. The Prime Minister ditched compulsory local authority housebuilding targets at the end of last year following the threat of a backbench rebellion, making them only “advisory”.īut the move has received its own backlash, with other Tory MPs warning the Conservatives risk becoming “the party of Nimbyism”. Housebuilding in the S&P/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers’ index dropped for the fifth month in a row to 43, with anything below 50 marking a contraction. Housebuilding has plunged at the fastest pace since the May 2020 lockdown as Michael Gove and Rishi Sunak face a revolt from Tory backbenchers over their planning policies.Ī combination of high mortgage rates, falling buyer demand and the Government’s decision to scrap certain targets meant housing construction fell in April at the steepest rate in almost three years, data showed.
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