THE government must provide a recipe for growth, a building industry leader has warned.

Julia Evans, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders, was speaking after figures from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills showed construction output for the first quarter of 2012 had been revised downwards to minus 4.8% – contributing to a further fall of 0.1% in overall GDP.

Ms Evans said: “With borrowing still increasing and government departments bracing themselves for another round of spending cuts, we are not looking at a recipe for growth.

“Traditional drivers for growth, such as construction, are being tantalised with schemes such as Project Merlin, the National Loans Guarantee Scheme and NewBuy which will do little to help the viable smaller companies that the government itself is looking towards to provide growth.

“The NFB has been warning of a double dip for the past two years and it is time now for the government to take serious action to help SMEs to help the economy. A cut in VAT to 5% for all home improvements would give a much-needed boost.”