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Suppliers Appointed to Fusion21’s £800 Million Construction Works & Improvements Framework
BRICK NUMBERS BUILDING Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show domestic brick manufacturing continuing to rise steadily further, easing any concerns over product shortages. Production numbers for February show a 2.8% rise over the same month in 2018, with the quarterly production numbers up 6%. The Brick Development Association’s Tom Farmer observed: “The last calendar year has seen the brick industry ploughing millions into manufacturing production and we see the results in a steadily increasing output. “We know that our members are taking a long term view of UK housing and are investing with confidence that the demand for new homes continues to outstrip supply by a considerable margin. There is only one way out of that situation and that’s to build more houses.
National procurement organisation Fusion21 has announced the suppliers successfully appointed to its national Construction Works & Improvements Framework - worth up to £800 Million, over a four year period. A total of 45 highly skilled firms – including 50% SMEs – have secured a place on the framework which has been developed to deliver capital works programmes with lots specific to housing, education, healthcare and the wider public sector. Going live to the market on Monday 1st April, the framework offers a range of internal and external refurbishment and improvement works through to the building of additional structures -and will support housing providers, local authorities, educational institutions and healthcare organisations to deliver regeneration programmes, modernisation and upgrade works, plus construction of all building types. Fusion21 provides procurement services to the public sector - fully compliant with EU, UK and Scottish legislation - and is committed to making a difference in communities across the UK. To date the firm has saved its members more than £197 million through the procurement process, created more than 5,500 jobs and generated £78 million of social value.
“We are confident that current and future governments will continue to view housing as a top priority in domestic politics and our manufacturers are working to ensure that brick availability will not be an issue.” The BDA’s upbeat assessment of future housing demand is bullish given a flatlining in new housebuilding. Figures from the Ministry of Housing for the last quarter of 2018 show housing starts down 2% on the same period a year before with NHBC figures for February showing an even more marked 7% decrease in registrations over February 2018. “There is no doubt that political uncertainty is affecting private sector activity” continues Farmer. “However, the market for affordable homes remains strong and we anticipate that once some degree of political clarity returns, we will see renewed energy in the housing sector.”
Brexit is irrelevant to the London property market - comment on RICS data James Hyman, Head of Residential, Cluttons: Brexit is irrelevant to the London property market - sellers need to beat the Brexit bottleneck There has been a lot of discussion about the recovery of the London property market once there’s a resolution to Brexit. This simply won’t be the case. There’s effectively three years’ worth of people
who haven’t put their house on the market, creating a ‘Brexit bottleneck’ which will lead to a sharp correction when they do. If people are serious about selling, they should market their properties now to beat the rush of supply. However, they do need to be realistic about the price - nothing has changed in terms of affordability. Buyers haven’t suddenly got bigger salaries and
04 Construction UK Magazine - May 2019
they still must contend with the tighter lending criteria imposed by the CML. Sellers who are prepared to price their properties sensibly will get offers. For example, we marketed three properties last week at 15-20% lower than the original price – within 48 hours we had multiple offers. There’s activity out there but only at the right price.