Since the beginning of this year the UK housing market has boomed, meaning that demand for properties has outstripped the amount available. In order to solve this issue, the government has funded numerous housing projects to create new properties as quickly as possible. However, some tradesmen are struggling with the amount of work required meaning that a number of projects are taking longer than expected.

There have also been reports stating that during the month of May construction output dropped by 1.1 per cent, whereas the month before it increased by 1.2 per cent. However, those that work in the construction sector are still confident that the market will continue to do well, with Steve McGuckin, UK managing director of the global construction consultancy Turner & Townsend, saying: “The booming residential sector has been the engine of the wider construction industry’s growth, and with demand still strong it has plenty of road left to run. Even if house prices are close to peaking in the South East, sales are robust and house builders are unlikely to suffer much in the short-term.

“Many construction firms have over two years’ worth of orders on their books, and more than enough momentum to keep building.” Even though the market is still doing well, some are claiming that construction output stalled in May because the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced harsher lending criteria for mortgages with their Monetary Market Review (MMR). Under the MMR, borrowers will be scrutinised in order to make sure that they can realistically afford their monthly mortgage repayments even if the Bank of England increases their interest rates by three per cent over the next few years.

In May alone the number of loans that were approved for remortgaging dropped by a massive twenty six per cent compared to the previous year, however the Council for Mortgage Lenders are still claiming that this is not solely due to the introduction of the MMR. Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “With May lending figures, we get our first glimpse at the effect the Mortgage Market Review has had on lending trends and, at least so far, the impact appears subtle, rather than dramatic.

“First-time buyers and home movers continue to be key drivers in market growth and their activity does not seem to have been noticeably disrupted. There was no cliff edge; lenders and intermediaries had been methodically working towards applying MMR changes for months leading up to implementation and the figures appear to reflect this.” Along with dealing with the after-effects of the MMR, tradesmen have also had to battle with issues from homeowners. For example, Powered Now’s recent Home Owner Survey showed that eighty per cent of homeowners feel that hiring a tradesman is a ‘frustrating experience’.

Benjamin Dyer, co-founder of Powered Now, said: “The annual home owner survey substantiates what our users have been telling us: as tradesmen, they need to improve the quality of their administration and range of payment options to deliver what their customers expect. Home owners’ expectations are higher than ever before. While there is a current boom in work for the field trade sector, it’s never been so competitive.”

So what can tradesmen do to protect and improve their businesses during this turbulent time? Firstly, it is important for them to understand that even though there is currently a considerable amount of demand for construction services, this demand could decrease suddenly if mortgage lending is tightened. In order to combat this issue, traders should make sure that they always offer professional and high quality services to their customers.

Having an extensive tradesman liability insurance policy is just one way to prove that you are a reputable tradesman, however there are also a number of other ways that this can be achieved. For example, tradesmen are often advised to join registered trade schemes in order to prove to their clients that they adhere to industry standards and that their work has been approved by a regulatory body.

With so much competition in the market right now and the construction industry being so unpredictable, it’s important for tradesmen to do everything they can to secure both their reputations and future work.

Photo by David Wright / CC BY-SA 2.0