Business of the House

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Thursday 15th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

May we have an urgent debate on the state of the construction industry? The industry is not only of huge importance to the UK economy, but of particular importance to my constituency, where we have some of the largest brick factories in the country, and many companies involved in the supply of building materials. I am sure that Members on both sides of the House will be heartened to hear that growth in the construction sector is at an 11-month high, and I hope that they would all agree that that is something we need to build on.

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He reminds the House that under Labour, house building fell to its lowest peacetime rate since the 1920s. He will have seen the announcement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government on Monday about the NewBuy scheme, which will give new purchasers the opportunity to buy their first home without having to find a huge deposit. I hope that this will help to kick-start the building industry, and that builders will buy lots of bricks manufactured in his constituency.