The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said the Liberal Democrat's 300,000 new homes target is the "most ambitious yet".

However, the FMB said it needs to be underpinned by a pro-SME housing strategy if it has any hope of being achieved.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, explained: "If we are to reach anywhere near that level of house building, we would finally be keeping pace with the demand for housing while also starting to address the backlog. Sadly, this hasn't happened for several decades. The last time we built over 200,000 new homes was in 1988.

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"The introduction of 15 year local plans would help, but more importantly still, the Lib Dems must reinvigorate the SME house building sector through greater access to small sites and improved access to finance.

"The intension to create at least ten new garden cities could help increase housing delivery, but it is crucial that the procurement processes for these projects do not shut out SMEs."

(CD/JP)