Get Britain building?

This week we have heard news that planning regulations will be relaxed, green belt land will be opened up and the government will underwrite a programme of building. "We want to get Britain building again" and the economy will grow, the Prime Minister said.

But what are we going to build? Houses that people can't buy because they can't get mortgages? Offices and commercial premises to sit alongside the millions of square feet that currently stand vacant?

I thought that Margaret Thatcher had turned to the UK into a 'service economy' so why do we need to build and what is the value in jump-starting an economy that clearly isn't ready or willing to grow?

Everybody knows that the housing market is totally reliant on first-time-buyers but now that the banks have had their wrists slapped they don't want to risk lending unless the buyer can show they've saved a whacking great percentage already. It wasn't that long ago that banks offered 105% of the value of a house, now they've gone the other way.

And who saves when the interest rate is so low? And what young person saves when actually we've told them that it is perfectly acceptable to start life with a £30,000 debt in the form of student loans?

Businesses want to grow but they need money, which the banks don't want to lend. Maybe the government should offer them a student loan to help with cash flow.

Sensible access to funding is the key. For too long there was a fountain of credit to dip into and that was unhealthy for a few but now the tap has been turned off for everyone. Give me £5 and I will turn it into £10 and pay you back £6 - isn't that how economies work?

Allow money to flow and confidence will grow.

Yes we can build more houses and that will create jobs but then what? I'm sure there are some people in Ireland that could show the PM what it looks like to build housing estates that sit empty.