By Russell Yates, managing director, AluK and president of CAB.

As Andy Burnham becomes our seventh prime minister in just 10 years, we can only hope that he is the one that finally achieves some meaningful growth in the economy and delivers both the policies and the boost to consumer confidence that we need to get the construction industry out of its current slump.

I’ve written before in this column about my and AluK’s support for the ‘Let’s Get Britain Building, NOW!’ group, which is demanding government support for our sector and highlighting the fact that it directly and indirectly supports more than 5million UK jobs. The group is lobbying, amongst other things, for a stimulus package for the housing market; and it’s been encouraging to see it really stepping up its media campaign to coincide with Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street.

The overwhelming message the group is putting out is: ‘If you help homeowners, we’ll see the economy grow’ and it’s hard to argue with that. One of the standout figures it is quoting is that, for every £1 spent on UK construction, about £2.92 of value is generated across the economy, so it makes perfect sense for us to add our voices to that.

AluK’s survey of customers and colleagues back in May showed that most in this industry wanted that spending to come in the form of reduced VAT on windows and doors to bring them into line with other energy efficiency measures, reduced fuel tax and subsidies for UK based businesses’ energy costs.

And, while we haven’t seen any indications yet that any of those initiatives will be forthcoming, there are a few positive murmurings that some form of Help to Buy government loan scheme is actively being considered, as well as the new First Time Buyer ISA product.

Newspaper briefings I’ve read suggest that a review by the housing minster commissioned under Keir Starmer will conclude that rolling out a new version of Help to Buy would not force up house prices in the way that it arguably did previously, so I think there might be some grounds for optimism when it published later this year.

Whether it comes in the form of first time buyer or wider support though, we certainly need something to stimulate demand and encourage developers to build. Rightmove has just reported that the number of new developments being advertised for sale are at their lowest levels since 2017 – and this is despite the fact that we were promised 1.5 million new homes by 2030! (It’s not as though builders do not have land or planning permission either – only about half of homes granted planning permission since 2013 have actually ever been built.)

It’s also been suggested that Andy Burnham will focus investment on the delivery of social housing in the way that he did in Manchester – and he has previously called for an investment of £40bn to build 500,000 homes for social rent by 2030. Whether we see the likes of Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon or Redrow building for rent or sale though, the opportunities will still be there for fenestration companies, and we should be encouraged by that.

Ultimately, what we really need from the new prime minister is an improvement in consumer confidence. The new build market would undoubtedly benefit from government intervention, but the replacement and refurbishment market is reliant on home owners feeling comfortable enough to buy, move or invest in their existing homes – and only an overall improvement in the economy will be able to deliver that.

Judging by the tenure of the last few prime ministers, he’s only got a couple of years to achieve that!