NEWS | DIGEST British business horrified by prospect of no deal Brexit EU exit uncertainty hits housing market The chaos around Brexit is slowing down the housing market, with prices set to fall over the next threemonths, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The average time taken for a sale has now reached four months the slowest period since 2016 and the number of sales is expected to fall in 2019, according to RICS latest survey of members. The ongoing uncertainties surrounding how the Brexit process will play out is taking its toll on the housing market, said RICS chief economist SimonRubinsohn. I cant recall a previous survey when a single issue has been highlighted by quite so manycontributors. The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has stated that house prices could fall by as much as 30% in the event of a no deal Brexit. Government prepares for no deal as datefor Britain leaving the EU looms British firms are horrified by the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 29 March, according to a joint statement from business leaders. They said companies had been watching in horror as politicians have focused on factional disputes rather than practical steps that business needs to move forward. The British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, manufacturers organisation EEF, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Institute of Hinkley C has plan B The construction team building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is stockpiling materials and looking to source more products locally to reduce the possible impact of a no deal Brexit. Nigel Cann, delivery director for end client EDF, said that sensible decisions had been taken based on the likelihood of a considerable period of uncertainty. However, he claimed the project was still on track to be finished in 2025. Cann said about 80% of procurement was complete, but that there were still 30 equipment contracts to place. EDF intends to employ an alliance of contractors to deliver around 2bn worth of mechanical, electrical, and heating and ventilation works. Directors said firms were diverting investment from innovation and jobs into stockpiling goods or materials, diverting cross-border trade, and moving offices, factories, jobs and tax revenues out of the UK. While many firms had prepared for no deal, hundreds and thousands had yet to start, the statement said. It is clear there is simply not enough time to prevent severe dislocation and disruption in just 100 days. The National Federation of Builders (NFB) said leaving the EU without a deal would be more catastrophic for the construction industry than the 2008 financial crisis, when it lost more than 250,000 skilled workers. [It] would make life harder for SME housebuilders and regional contractors at a time when the country is suffering from an acute skills shortage and a chronic housing crisis, it said. According to the NFB, the situation is being exacerbated by the Immigration White Paper, which proposes that skilled migrants earn at least 30,000 a year. CIBSE technical manager Julie Godefroy said this could have an impact onconsultants relying on engineers from the EU.Most engineering graduates will earn less than 30,000. How Baxi Heating is preparing for a potential no-deal Brexit on 29 March by Andrew Keating, UK aftersales and marketing director Weve taken a view that hard Brexit is a potential outcome. The risks we can see are physical ones around the security of thesupply chain. We are spending time and money securing warehousing, organisational space, stock levels of finished goods and components, and transport. A lot of effort has gone on behind the scenes. People will still need products, irrespective of what happens with Brexit in the coming months. There are some issues around certification, and were confident we have the right standards and certification partners to ensure we can take products in and out of the UK. In terms of exchange rates, the most extreme forecast is predicting pound/euro parity. If that happened, it would have a significant impact on products [in the UK market]. What will happen with tariffs is still unclear. 10 January 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Jan19 pp10 News.indd 10 21/12/2018 14:51