AUDIO NEWS: CPA calls for emergency stimulus for housing market and crime on site increases

CPA lobbies for stimulus package for house building market, 70% of construction workers believe crime on site has increased, and poor safety training blamed for accidents

The Construction Products Association (CPA) is badgering the government for an emergency stimulus package to rescue the flagging house building sector. 

The industry body warned the government it had no chance of reaching its 1.5 million housing target without swift action to restore buyer confidence.

According to CPA’s latest figures, housing output has been flat this year and is only predicted to grow by 4% in 2026. 

The housing sector has seen a 14% fall in completions between 2022 and 2024, while new starts have collapsed by 39% over the same period.

The CPA also expects construction firm insolvencies to accelerate next year.

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Nearly 70% of construction workers claim that crime on site has increased in the last year — that’s according to a poll of 500 industry professionals from BauWatch. 

Theft, vandalism and trespassing were all widely reported and over half of respondents said they’d witnessed theft from site at least twice in the last 12 months.

The survey also found that younger workers were disproportionately impacted by site crime.

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Inadequate safety training, deficient risk assessments and poor communication have been named as the biggest causes of accidents on site.  

Over a third of the 500 industry professionals who took part in the survey from SafeSite Facilities felt that safety standards had declined.

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