FIGHT FOR REGULATION
Despite uncovering tens of thousands of complaints against builders, our findings are likely to be an underrepresentation of the problem.
Nearly one in five councils were not able to provide any of the figures requested, and the industry itself is poorly regulated.
Anyone can set themselves up as a builder and there’s no licensing of construction companies.
Mark Garnier MP has proposed a law to change this and ensure builders are regulated and licensed.
“There is no mechanism to make sure that builders actually do the work properly, aside from going to a court,” he told Sky News.
Mark Garnier MP wants more regulation for builders
Mark Garnier MP wants more regulation for builders
“It is a hideously expensive experience.”
Mr Garnier has proposed a scheme which would see builders lose their license if they fail to deliver.
He says this would restore confidence for homeowners, so they know the builders they select are “solvent and safe to do business with”.
The industry’s lack of regulation is exacerbated by a lack of resources for enforcement agencies.
Sky News has been told that services that investigate building crime are at a “tipping point”, having had their funding cut by 50% since 2010.
The industry is unregulated
The industry is unregulated
Dr Tim Day is from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, a membership body that represents Trading Standards professionals.
He says Trading Standards departments “don’t have the resources to do everything we need to do” and need more funding.
“You’re spread too thin when you’ve got that few numbers of members of staff to be able to do in-depth investigations,” he says.
Explaining the impact on homeowners, he says: “If it’s a one-off complaint, there are many local authorities looking and thinking they can’t justify the cost of getting somebody to just look at this one case, which is just not cost effective.
“They can’t do it with the budgets they have got”.
Funding cuts have left Trading Standards poorly resourced, says Dr Tim Day
Funding cuts have left Trading Standards poorly resourced, says Dr Tim Day
Funding cuts to Trading Standards services are not happening in isolation.
“Austerity is seeing our partner agencies also experiencing cuts, which means venturing back to their core work as well,” Dr Day says.
“That means the gaps in terms of service provision only get bigger. And that’s where people fall through those cracks unfortunately.”
Prosecuting rogue traders is only a small proportion of the work done by Trading Standards officers.
They enforce 300 separate laws, ranging from food safety breaches to illicit tobacco.