October 19, 2015
Planning logjam halts construction work
The company that is supplying millions of bricks for the multimillion pound redevelopment of a South London district says a planning logjam has led to a slowdown in construction activity.
Michelmersh, the largest maker of specialist bricks in the UK, says it delivered fewer bricks than expected for the second half of 2014.
Martin Warner, chief executive of Michelmersh Brick Holdings, says: “Construction is down. We have seen it over the summer. If you talk to developers, one of the biggest problems is planning. The planning process is getting worse and worse rather than better.”
Michelmersh said delivered fewer bricks than expected in the second half of the year but reports that prices were higher than budgeted.
Lack of bricks and bricklayers have previously threatened to thwart government plans to increase housebuilding in the UK, but Warner says planning is now the bigger obstacle because the mothballed brickworks have reopened.
He expects demand to pick up again after the first quarter of next year as projects receive planning approval and plans put on hold before the election take shape.
“People do get through planning eventually and the fundamental demand is there,” he adds.
Michelmersh is supplying materials to match original Victorian bricks for the redevelopment of Elephant & Castle in south London, while it has also been called on to supply bricks designer fashion brand Jimmy Choo’s New Bond Street flagship store.
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