Supply chains were hit with 5% cuts on already-agreed accounts as a string of housing giants pleaded poverty when the market tanked.
Spin forward to 2013 and things are very different on the balance sheets of Britain’s house builders.
They are all busily reporting sparkling results and shoveling back cash to shareholders in the form of higher dividends.
Of course private companies can do what they want with their profits.
But it seems they have forgotten the sacrifice of subcontractors in the bad times now that the cash is rolling in again thanks to low land prices, high house prices and a swathe of Government subsidies.
Housebuilders still talk about controlling costs throughout the supply chain which must make trade contractors wonder when their rates will ever go up.
Subbies suffer in the pocket when the bad times come and seem to be at the back of the queue for any reward when the market turns around.
The credit crunch discounts rightly sparked outrage when they were imposed on suppliers.
Paying back some of that withheld cash would send out a clear message that housebuilders value their teams of loyal trade contractors.