Small house builders' workloads have slumped as the recession for small to medium sized enterprises (SME) in the construction sector continues according to the latest State of Trade Survey from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB's State of Trade Survey, the only one of its kind looking at construction SMEs, reveals that workloads in the SME construction sector have declined across all sectors. The continuing deterioration in the SME house building sector will be a big concern for the Government having acknowledged that new house building is key to delivering jobs and growth in the British economy. An alarming 39% of respondents to the FMB survey reported a decline in private new house building workloads in the third quarter of the year, and 40% predict a further decline in the last three months of this year.

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Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB said: "There is little doubt that we are in the midst of a serious housing crisis with fewer than half the number of new homes being built to meet current demand. The FMB survey results show that the SME construction sector remains in deep trouble. This time last year we had hoped that we would be seeing at least some signs of recovery on the horizon by now. However, it is becoming clear that this situation is not going to resolve itself any time soon.

"With the industry in such a fragile state the Government must think very carefully about introducing any new burdens on the house building sector. We want to help the Prime Minister achieve his goal of building more houses in Britain and so we are making the case that now is not the time to be pushing on with policies designed during the economic boom. Instead real progress is required on deregulation."

(CD/GK)