Published on 21 Mar 2012 • England, Wales |
"I want to set out a vision for this country’s infrastructure in the 21st century; what we need, how we can pay for it and some specific steps that we are going to take."
"...we now need to be more ambitious. Why is it that other infrastructure - for example, water - is funded by private sector capital through privately owned, independently regulated, utilities... but roads in Britain call on the public finances for funding?"
"The question is: can they make it work? Perhaps the Chancellor should read page 101 of his National Infrastructure Plan, which identified that the regulated asset model used in the water industry wouldn’t work because this government has ruled out tolling on existing roads."
"I’d much rather it was delayed than they went out and blundered it. Because if we blundered it there would be headlines saying this is a disaster, and it would take two years at least to get it back into consciousness - it would kill the thing."
"It was particularly disappointing that the government once again failed to do anything to encourage investment in improving the energy investment in buildings, and the Budget seems to have been developed in a vacuum as far as their claims to be the 'greenest government ever' are concerned."
"There is a massive shortage of family homes in London's villages and given price growth expectation, growing demand will push average three and four bedroom family homes in many areas such as Islington into the top stamp duty tier within a year or two, making it even harder for families to commit to staying in the city.
There will certainly be a rise in the number of people looking for a renovation project priced beneath £2 million, preferring to spend their money on improving their home and potentially getting it back when they sell, rather than handing an additional 2% over to the Treasury."
"The Chancellor made some welcome announcements in today's Budget designed to help businesses hire people, such as the additional cut in corporation tax. However, construction SMEs need measures to reverse the contraction in the housing sector output before they can increase employment opportunities.
Homeowners and landlords need to know, just as much as the industry, what the total benefits will be of signing up for a Green Deal loan attached to their property.
Sadly, the Chancellor did not listen to those arguing for an extension to the Stamp Duty holiday for first time buyers. The reinstatement of Stamp Duty on properties worth over £125,000 for first time buyers will increase the numbers struggling to get on the property ladder."
"RICS is pleased to see the Chancellor move to get small businesses building and growing again. The National Loan Guarantee Scheme, more money for the Get Britain Building Fund and streamlining the planning system are all welcome measures that should combat the growing scepticism in the construction sector and the view that SMEs are being squeezed.
Whilst credit-easing and the Get Britain Building Fund will take effect immediately, other initiatives like the planning reforms and infrastructure development will take longer to feed through. RICS would have liked to have seen a reduction in VAT to 5% on all home, maintenance and repair work, and a reinstatement of empty property rate relief up to £18,000 as immediate measures to generate jobs and growth now."
"The new top rate of 7% stamp duty on properties worth more than £2m falls short of the 'mansion tax' which had been discussed before the budget. However, the impact will not be inconsiderable as the market in the southeast and particularly parts of London has been booming. The leap from 5% on properties worth more than £1m is significant and this – in combination with the pledge to crack down on tax avoidance – could raise hundreds of millions in tax revenues."
"Today's announcement of further funding for the initial stages of the Northern Hub is a welcome show of confidence in rail bringing benefits to passengers as well as driving economic growth. To realise the project's total value of £4bn to the Northern economy and create between 20,000 and 30,000 new jobs, the final stages of funding will need to be supported in the rail budgets to be announced later this year."
"This is only going to cause the heritage sector more harm... But ironically, it could speed up work on heritage buildings before October because people who wish to alter listed buildings will want to do so in the next six months."
"Actually, there was precious little news for most of us in our industry (the energy sector aside) – a touch disappointing when you consider the potential that construction has to delivering regeneration and growth."