Baroness Manzoor
Main Page: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question on Birmingham and for the service that he gave to Hazel Grove over many years. I do not have a specific answer to his Birmingham City Council question because it is too recent and I do not have it in my pack, but I will write to him.
Baroness Manzoor (Con)
My Lords, as my noble friend the Minister will know, SME builders are having a difficult time and are being priced out of the market because of high interest rates and difficulty borrowing money and getting funding in the first place. Can he say exactly what is being done to support these builders? Without them, England would be worse off.
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
My noble friend is exactly right. SME builders bring some welcome colour and difference to housing design throughout the country, and it is very important that we have those independent SME builders. The Government are committed to supporting SME housebuilders: last year we launched the levelling-up home building fund, which is providing £1.5 billion of development finances to SMEs and builders to support them to build more homes. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill is making changes to support SMEs, making the planning process faster and more predictable so that they can plan ahead.