The Economic Footprint of UK House Building

The economic contribution that house building makes to the UK economy has long been recognised by Government, policy makers and practitioners.

However, the recent recession and ongoing housing crisis has placed the industry firmly under the spotlight, with house building increasingly acknowledged as a crucial driver of economic growth; capable of maintaining a prosperous economy as well as providing much needed housing to support sustainable communities. In order to better understand and articulate this value and what it means in practical terms, the Home Builders Federation (‘HBF’) commissioned Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (‘NLP’) to assess the economic footprint of the national house building industry and quantify its economic contribution to the national economy.

The study looks at a wide and comprehensive range of economic, social and environmental benefits that dayto-day house building generates in a way that has not been captured before. It uses a number of primary and secondary data sources to measure the industry’s national footprint and draws on a survey of some of the UK’s largest house builders as well as the latest economic appraisal techniques and benchmarks.