Following yesterdays autumn budget announcement by Chancellor Philip Hammond, various industry experts have expressed their thoughts on what impact they think it will have on the housing market in the future, we have complied some below:
Richard Tugwell, a director at specialist lender Together Money, said: “The pledge to build 300,000 new homes a year has to be a positive move towards fixing issues in the housing market which have existed for decades. But it’s essential that finance is available for developers to deliver on this promise. Those with an interest in the property sector, including lenders like Together, need to all work alongside the Government to ensure property developers and investors have access to funding to help ensure these ambitious targets are met.”
Lewis Johnston, RICS Parliamentary and Public Affairs Manager, said: “In the run-up to the budget Phillip Hammond suggested he would be leading a concerted Government effort to deliver 300,000 home a year. While some industry concerns have been taken into account, overall today’s announcements don’t match up to that ambition.
“The pledged £44bn package of housing support seems positive, but it does not represent the kind of comprehensive strategy we need, nor is it clear how much of this figure is made up of previously announced policies. Most of the announced measures are also only due to come in in 2019/2020 instead of having an immediate impact, and the Chancellor stated that we would not be building the 300,000 new homes a year until the mid 2020s, leaving the country to wait at least eight years.
“Breaking it down, scrapping Stamp Duty for first-time buyers may stimulate activity at a time when the market is subdued, but this does not tackle the underlying problem and is something of a distraction from the need to increase supply.
David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association said: “With ever growing numbers of families with children in private rented housing we recognise their needs for longer tenancies. Today’s Budget could have acted on proposals we have made by providing tax relief for landlords prepared to offer longer tenancies and taking action against mortgage lenders who block them being granted. Instead we have yet another consultation adding to the 15 already ongoing which relate to the private rented sector. Tenants cannot live in consultations.
“The renewed focused on corporate money in high rise city centre rental property also neglects rural areas and towns, and fails to support the majority of landlords who are individuals and can provide the dynamism the rental market desperately needs. The value of the private rented sector is its responsiveness and diversity and the Budget does nothing to encourage this.”
Smith continued: “We welcome the Government’s acceptance of RLA recommendations to include rent payment history in credit scores. This is good for tenants wanting to access mortgages themselves and good for landlord in better understanding the background of prospective tenants.”
Dan Labbad, CEO of International Operations at Lendlease, said: “The Chancellor’s commitment to provide £44bn to support the housing market over the next five years is a much needed and welcome move, which represents an important step forward in getting Britain building.
“However, if we are to genuinely tackle the UK’s housing shortage, business, communities and Government all need to find ways to work together more collaboratively. One way of doing this is through new forms of partnership between the public and private sectors. Working in partnership is key to unlocking large, complex and diverse housing opportunities, ultimately creating the type of places where people will actually want to live and work.”
We will have a full review of the Budget and its impact on the market in our next issue.
