Still tons of bricks in the property industry...
In heartening if slightly indignant news the Brick Development Association has confirmed that there is no structural shortage in the number of bricks needed to address the widening housing shortage in the UK. This was in answer to a claim by the National Association of Estate Agents that there was a brick shortage.
The article notes that housing starts and completions are up over the last 12 months. Clearly, everyone will be waiting for figures in Autumn to show how Brexit affected demand for the existing pipeline of new homes. Rumours about a renewed funding programme for private and/or public housing in the Autumn Statement will also be keenly followed.
In the meantime, although there may be shortages of planners, property lawyers, and sites, there doesn't seem to be any problem with finding bricks.
But Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the BDA, said: “This is a lazy analysis. The BDA represents 99pc of the brick manufacturers in the UK. We can report with absolute authority that there is no shortage."”