House builders make huge profits. For example, they typically report profits of 10-30%, whereas in main contracting if you're getting 5% you're doing incredibly well. Have you seen how much Kier's directors get in bonuses?
It's laughable that you're defending housing companies, as if they're begging to be given opportunies to build good value homes. These house builders charge more than their product is actually worth (many people sell on for a loss) with quality that is so poor and often unfit for purpose. They do this because the regulation in the industry is poor and they know they can get away with it. Help to Buy was widely considered as Help to Sell in the industry, but of course, you wouldn't know this because you're ill informed.
Let's just think about the huge Levehulme planning applications to build houses across Wirral's countryside, coincidentally applied during the pandemic and when house prices were at their highest. The council can fulfill their quota of new builds by building on brownfield or ex industrial sites, but there's nowhere near as much profit in that, so they've tried to slip a few thousand houses in.
So once again the ability of this country to provide what should be a basic human requirement is left up to whether private companies can turn a big profit or not.
Who regulates these companies, Pete? Who has the power to make changes but never does?
