BUSINESSNEWS
Sunak’s Summer Statement could be
a gamechanger for glass and glazing
Chancellor Rishi Sunak
has unveiled measures
intended to boost Britain’s
COVID-hit economy.
Dekko Sales Director Kurt
Greatrex gives his take.
» GIVEN THE SCALE OF THE
coronavirus crisis, and the sheer size of the
economic fallout, it was only a matter of time
before the government came forward with big
spending pledges to tackle the downturn.
In the first week of July, Boris gave us a taste
of what we could expect – Britain needed to
‘build build build’, he said, strongly signalling
that construction would be at the heart of the
government’s economic recovery plans.
Then, not long after, Chancellor Rishi
Sunak delivered his Summer Statement –
including a raft of proposals designed to ease
COVID’s economic impact, and help Britain’s
businesses weather the recession.
‘the government cover
two-thirds of the cost
for homeowners’
The biggest, and undoubtedly most
significant for our industry, was the ‘green
homes grant’ – a £3bn package that will see
the government cover two-thirds of the cost
for homeowners to improve their property’s
thermal efficiency.
Grants up to £5,000 will go towards
double-glazing, energy-efficient doors,
insulation and other measures that help move
the UK closer to its ambitious 2050 net zero
targets.
The Treasury will foot the entire bill –
capped at £10,000 - for projects on lowincome
houses.
We’re yet to see a full list of what products
will and won’t be eligible – windows and doors
have been explicitly mentioned already – and
exactly how the grants would be issued, but
the scheme certainly has the potential to be a
gamechanger for glass and glazing.
KICK-STARTING THE
HOUSING MARKET
What’s more, the government will spend
£1bn improving the energy efficiency of public
buildings, and another £50m retrofitting
social housing – raising the prospect of more
lucrative public sector projects for fabricators
and installers.
This comes on top of the £12bn for the
construction of 180,000 affordable new
homes that the Conservatives pledged in their
election manifesto, and Boris confirmed would
still go ahead earlier in July.
Sunak also announced a major increase in
the stamp duty threshold, clearly intended
to help kick-start the UK housing market –
from July the 8th, only properties worth over
£500,000 will incur the tax, compared to
£125,000 before.
More generally, the Chancellor outlined
other proposals designed to soften the blow
of the coming recession – for each previouslyfurloughed
worker still employed in January
2021, companies will receive £1,000, he
said.
Businesses will also receive £1,000 grants to
take on 18-24-year old trainees, and £2,000
for apprentices given permanent jobs.
A few thousand pounds is unlikely to
convince companies to hire if they weren’t
seriously considering doing so anyway - but
anything that has the potential to ease the
long-running construction skills shortage is
welcome.
NOT QUITE A ‘NEW DEAL’ – BUT
WELCOME NONETHELESS
Already, I’ve seen some commentary
negatively comparing the Chancellor’s
proposals to measures announced in other
countries. Our government has pledged £3bn.
France has pledged £13.5bn – and Germany
will spend £36bn.
The policies Sunak outlined certainly don’t
live up to the hype Boris created when he
likened the government’s response to the
New Deal either – the mammoth economic
stimulus that saw American President Franklin
Roosevelt put three million people to work
on over 30,000 state-funded infrastructure
projects between 1933 and 1939.
But for fenestration and construction more
generally, the policies they have announced are
extremely welcome, and will help hundreds of
companies weather the economic crisis.
As a sector, we seem to have had a flying
start to the post-lockdown period. At Dekko,
we’ve experienced several record weeks – a
world away from the dire situation many
of us were fearing. None of us know what’s
around the corner, but for now the orders keep
coming in.
It’s made me more confident than ever that,
despite everything 2020 has thrown at us,
fenestration has a prosperous future ahead of
it.
For more information please call 0161 406
0055 or visit www.dekkowindows.com
CLEARVIEW-UK.COM » AUG 2020 » 69