The Budget must include measures to make Britain's homes more energy-efficient, boosting the construction industry and helping householders protect themselves against rising fuel bills, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned in a letter to the Chancellor.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: "By 2016 9 million British households could be in fuel poverty. We need action now to help get Britain building towards growth, and independent economists estimate that diverting funds into a massive public-sector programme to improve the energy-efficiency of Britain’s existing 26 million homes would boost GDP by 0.2%, create 130,000 jobs and help the Government meet its own targets for cutting carbon emissions."


Mr Berry continued: "We also want ministers to rethink the unrealistic timeline for zero-carbon homes, which was set back in 2006 before the economic slump. Our own survey of smaller housing developers found that the proposals to change Part L of the Building Regulations in October this year could add more than £3,500 to the cost of building a new house. This will discourage even more developers from building new homes, further exacerbating the desperate housing shortage and locking low and middle-income buyers out of the market."

(CD/GK)