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On the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) Build Up from the Basement podcast, Richard Tice MP, Deputy Leader of Reform UK, has voiced his support for the FMB’s Licence to Build campaign and said the Government will do ‘badly’ when it comes to meeting its housing targets.

Mr Tice, whose background is in property, outlined his vision for helping the industry while tackling the £14.3 billion lost to rogue builders, as revealed by the FMB. He endorsed the FMB’s calls for an independent licensing authority, emphasising it must be “smart, simple, and easy to use.” He told podcast host Iona Stewart-Richardson:

“We’ve always been totally focused on small businesses across all industries and making it easier for small businesses to be able to operate without too much regulation. And the expression I use is look, we all want smart, safe regulation. What nobody wants is daft regulation. That’s a waste of time.”

The FMB reports that 86% of its members support licensing proposals, with 81% of the public also backing the measure. Mr Tice shared his experience of the building sector, adding that too many people are going to university coming out with pointless degrees and debt:

“My very first job was digging trenches for a new building in January 1983 with some fantastic Irish contractors… If you cut me in half, you will sort of basically construction and property will ooze out of my veins. The construction industry is fundamental to everything, to our homes, to our schools, to our hospitals. It all happens thanks to the construction industry. I think people underestimate how massive a process it is.”

The Reform UK deputy leader criticised current Government housing targets, predicting Labour will “miss their target by a factor of 40% plus” and achieve only 800,000 homes instead of the planned 1.5 million over the parliamentary term. He partly attributed this to excessive building costs driven by net zero regulations, he told the podcast:

“The cost of energy is destroying the industrial base of this country…energy bills will not come down before the next election due to “green levies, green taxes, and policy costs being bolted on.”

Additionally, the podcast, which also featured FMB CEO Brian Berry, covered barriers to training apprentices and attracting new talent, with Mr Tice urging stronger incentives for small businesses to take on apprentices he said: “There should be a tax incentive, a tax break to do so. It used to be smooth and easy in the early 80s.”

When asked about Reform’s housing policies, Mr Tice outlined proposals aimed at making brownfield sites more accessible to local building companies, simplifying tax codes, reforming off-payroll working rules like IR35 and possibly raising VAT thresholds to reduce administrative burdens.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB concluded:

“I was delighted to welcome Richard to the FMB’s headquarters in London and onto the FMB’s ‘Build Up’ podcast to discuss Reform UK’s plans and policy ideas for small building companies. Richard is clearly very passionate about the building industry and as an organisation we are keen to work with him to help develop policies that will benefit the building industry.”