Brick manufacturers have slammed yesterday’s report from the National Association of Estate Agents.
They condemned it as misleading and damaging.
The Brick Development Association, representing brick manufacturers in the UK, described the report as “out of date and unhelpful”.
The NAEA, in conjunction with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, claimed there is a huge shortage of bricks, with 80% coming from Europe.
The report claimed that Brexit would make the issue worse, and the Government would be unable to meet its house-building targets.
But yesterday, the brick industry said that brick production has risen significantly over the last two years.
Andrew Eagles, CEO of the BDA, said of the report: “This is a lazy analysis.
“The BDA represents 99% of the brick manufacturers in the UK. We can report with absolute authority that there is no shortage.
“There has been a significant increase in brick production over the last 15 months and this is confirmed by the ONS statistics.
“The Construction Products Association, Builders Merchants Federation and major house builders also confirm that they have not seen any issues with brick supply in the last year.
“The report for the NAEA citing a brick shortage is based on data from April 2015. This is 15 months out of date.
“It is misleading and damaging for the brick and construction industry.
“I find it astonishing that the CEBR felt it useful to release a report that was so out of date. Where there are concerns we are happy to discuss these with organisations so the real issues can be uncovered.”
Eagles went on: “The challenges the brick industry faced in 2014 when there was a dramatic increase in house building are now behind us and the industry is confident it can meet the growing demand for its products in housing and other construction projects.”
“Indeed, in the second quarter of 2016, deliveries have been 10.4% higher than in the first quarter.
“The deliveries in June are also 7.4% higher than the figure predicted in May. These changes are significant and point to the increased demand for bricks in the housing market, and other sectors.
“Notably, these results correlate with recent positive news in the house building industry: 41,222 new homes were built in the UK in Q2, which is a 1% increase on the same period in 2015.
“Most importantly, this is also the highest number of houses built since Q4 of 2007.
“The kilns are fired up across the UK and the BDA looks forward to making their contribution to addressing the chronic housing shortage that has built up over recent decades.”
The BDA also said that Britain is far less reliant on imports, with UK producers increasingly meeting demand.
However, at least one brickworks in the UK appears to have been mothballed.
As an NAEA member I wish we stuck to PR about things that are directly relevant to members. Please can the Association make a fuss about the campaign to remove letting agents fees, licensing etc
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I agree. I’m a member and wish they would just stick to what they know about, rather than trying to garner publicity on stuff they are complete ignorant of.
Come on NAEA, get your act together please.
Your members need to see you doing much, much better than this.
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The Problem is lack of investment from UK brick manufactures, hence large imports from Holland etc,which of course then leads on to what happens post Brexit but that’s another story. Well done NAEA for being ahead of the curve.
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So the data was from 2 plus years ago, way before Brexit even hit the table for a vote and the industry had already taken action. Sounds me to more of anti-Brexit mentality nonsense. A case of not taking due care and diligence …. oops what organisation does that remind me off that preaches this to its members.
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The lesson to be learned here is how to stand up for your industry and your members. Rather than sit there mute ignoring direct attacks on his industry Andrew Eagles did his job and did it well.
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