Reading between the lines

Looking recently through a pile of cuttings relating to house building statistics, I came across a report of a parliamentary question posed to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, answered on 22 June this year.

Labour shadow minister for housing, John Healey, had asked what estimate had been made of the number of jobs created and supported for each £1 million of expenditure on new build housing in the latest period for which figures were available.

The answer was very illuminating in these days of budget cuts.

Housing minister Grant Shapps said his department has estimated that, in 2009, every £1 million of expenditure in new build housing supported 11 net jobs for a year. The figure takes account of direct jobs supported in the house building industry and indirect (supply chain) jobs. It also takes account of displacement effects, where increased spending on housing building takes investment (and associated jobs) away from other parts of the economy.

Let’s all hope the government bears this fully in mind when examining where its knife will fall directly on UK housing projects and indirectly in its efforts to stimulate investment by the private sector.

Mort

With all the talk and media coverage about climate change and better thermal insulation for all sorts of buildings, including homes, it’s about time more thought was applied not to new housing but to our existing building stock.

With new build, better insulation can be designed in but what about the 25 per cent of our existing housing stock in the UK that is of a solid nine-inch brick construction? Few owners want to see bulky insulation added to internal walls so we need to look outside ourselves.

 It’s here that factory-produced renders – with a suitable insulation board – can provide an attractive, cost-effective answer on the outside of buildings. Choose your colour, choose your finish and away you go. Well almost – but it is an answer more people will turn to in the future.

 ‘Mort’

We are launching a blog to keep association members and their customers up-to-date with developments in the factory-produced mortar industry.

Standards, regulations, product news, industry-affecting appointments will all be covered from time to time, treated – hopefully – in a way that reflects the mood and manner of the industry as well as the personalities who work in it.

 We will welcome suggestions for matters to cover and actively seek your response to what is said.

 After all, reading between the lines is always an intriguing thing to do.

‘Mort’