Members of the housing industry have said that although they support the Government’s recent announcement of a £1bn package of measures aimed at supporting the housing sector, they believe that it has not gone far enough.

The British Property Federation (BPF) has said that the Government needs to focus on the massive demand within the rental market. The BPF believes that the Government needs to offer incentives to institutional investors in the private sector such as amending stamp duty so that companies pay tax on each single unit rather than on the aggregate cost of the residential portfolio purchase.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) believes that the measures failed to address the underlying problem of the current downturn which is the lack of liquidity in the mortgage market. Without an increase in the number of mortgages available and a relaxing of the criteria for obtaining a loan, the Government’s measures will leave many first-time buyers out in the cold as they will still be unable to purchase a home.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, told PIN: “It is encouraging to see that the Government has taken notice of the continuing reminder from external parties that it is not just one factor that needs sorting but a number of problems. However, the package does not go far enough. For instance, it does nothing to address the underlying problem of the credit crunch, which is the shortage of mortgages due to the lack of liquidity in the market. Surely, finance in the market is a fundamental that needs to be addressed if we are not to see more people falling foul of the current climate.”