It said FirstBuy, New Buy, Help to Buy and Get Britain Building were all designed to boost construction, yet figures from the Office for National Statistics show construction output fell by 2.5% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2012.
Julia Evans, chief executive of the
National Federation of Builders, said:
"Joined-up thinking in government remains a pipe dream.
“What we have on one side are building schemes that meant to boost the industry by engaging with SMEs who cannot access them and on the other side, we have finance schemes and SMEs who cannot access them and never the twain shall meet.
“Construction is still seen as toxic and, in terms of lending, construction SMEs find themselves even at the back of the SME queue.
Ms Evans said the Funding for Lending scheme, intended to increase lending, with a focus on SMEs, has actually benefitted people looking for cheap mortgages and the larger housebuilders.
The record annual profits increase of between 50 per cent and 150 per cent among the larger housebuilders attest to the boost they have received from Funding for Lending.
British Banking Association figures show that lending to construction has been falling steadily for more than two years, restricting SMEs’ ability to participate.
Lending to construction has been falling steadily since 2011 with quarterly lending below £500 million at the beginning of 2013 - less than half the level seen in 2011.
Ms Evans said: “It would perhaps have been better for the Chancellor to bolster the business bank which is a much more focused, though currently underpowered, tool for SME finance.
“If the goal is to boost construction and improve access to finance, then an even better solution would have been to provide the £10 of discounted funding for every £1 lent through to the end of 2013 to viable construction companies so those schemes would stand a fighting chance of working.”
The ONS estimates that in the three months from December 2012 to February 2013, the volume of construction output decreased by 8.9%.