April brings new pressures for businesses

The start of April has brought some welcome spring sunshine but it also coincides with a number of economic shifts that will have an impact on the glass and glazing industry.

These include the end of the stamp duty holiday on house purchases, with first time buyers now having to pay stamp duty on property worth £300,000 or over (down from £425,000) with others paying tax on property worth £125,000 (down from £250k).

House prices dipped at the end of March, which analysts say is due to purchases failing to complete in time, and the new rules will mean some buyers will now be unable to afford a home or will have a big chunk of budget removed that might have otherwise been spent on home improvements, including new windows or doors.

On the plus side, some lenders are set to slash fix rates on mortgages, partly as a result of global economic uncertainty following Trump’s tariffs, which could benefit some of the 1.34 million homeowners that are due to come off existing deals between April and December.

Exactly how this will impact the industry is hard to say, although as we all know, consumer confidence (or a lack thereof) is a big factor when it comes to sales of new windows, doors and conservatories.

April also saw the introduction of National Insurance and minimum wage increases, which will be an additional concern for businesses who are already working very hard to remain profitable in a sluggish market.

For Neil Evans, managing director of Veka, the rises can be absorbed, but this will become more of a challenge without long term growth.

In his comment in this week’s newsletter he says that if the government is truly on the side of working people then it needs to recognise this pressure on employers in the private sector and that budget measures should aim to restore confidence not further erode it.

You can read his comment in full here.