The chronic housing shortage is being made worse by the reluctance of banks to lend to small housebuilders, the Federation of Master Builders has claimed.
Britains largest trade association for the construction industry said that nearly half of all small housebuilders had reported that sites in which they were interested had stalled amid a lack of lending.
Chief executive, Brian Berry, accused banks of doing the bare minumim in trying to help small builders that are seen as a vital part to addressing the housing shortage as they are more likely to buy plots of land that larger developers ignore.
