POLICY
at the rate of around 232,000 per annum. An extra 16,000 new homes will be welcome, particularly to those employed on the sites or living in the eventual homes, but it is, sadly a ‘drop in the ocean’.” Imtiaz Farookhi, Chief Executive
of the NHBC, said, “Latest NHBC figures show that overall house building numbers have largely stagnated over the past 12 months. We therefore welcome the Government’s ambitious new housing strategy and hope that it will provide a much-needed boost to help revive the housing industry to provide families with desperately needed new and affordable homes. “With NHBC predicting overall housing figures for 2011 to show little improvement on the previous year, it will be essential to monitor volumes of house building over the short to medium term. The Government should be prepared to act quickly if the new measures fail to have the desired effect of creating a substantial increase in housing numbers in the UK.” Head of Planning at Colliers
International, Anthony Aitken says that the most high profile aspect of the ‘Housing Strategy’ is the mortgage guarantee scheme to encourage lenders to provide 95 per cent for buyers of new homes, “This will be welcomed by the
housebuilding industry, as it is imperative that people seeking to get into the housing market can get access to mortgages that will hopefully push back the statistic of the average first time buyer now being aged 37! “If people can get on the first
‘rung’ of the housing ladder then it will help other properties move further up the ladder, this can only be a good thing in the current economic market”.
“KicK start stalled development” Liz Peace, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation, said, “The housing provisions in the Autumn Statement are very welcome and it is good to see the government has moved to kick start stalled development through the Get Britain Building fund and address mortgages for first time
16 JANUARY 2012 PROPERTYdrum
L - r: back row- David Cameron; Jason White; Nick Clegg. Front row: Debbie Purves; Jonathan Purves; Lara White; Katie White; Josh White; Daniel Purves.
buyers, who are vital for the overall health of the market.” Grenville Turner, Chief Executive,
Countrywide, welcomed the Coalition’s recognition of the importance that the housing market plays in the regeneration of the UK economy. “The measures are a step in the right direction and address the key fundamental issues – housing supply and the requirements of high level of deposits. We wholly support the focus around raising the availability of new stock in both the sales and rental markets and the measures announced to assist first time buyers onto the property ladder. “The Government need to ensure
that their promise of increasing house building is followed through and not restricted by planning red tape. Whilst the proposed new build indemnity scheme is a welcomed boost it is disappointing to see a lack of measures to assist the vast majority of homemovers. A stamp duty holiday for all homebuyers up to £250,000 should still be considered. “We also welcome the
We were disappointed that the first time buyer Stamp Duty holiday is not being
extended.” WendY evans-scott naea
consideration of tax break measures for buy-to-let investors, any Government support to encourage investment in the buy-to-let sector will help to relieve the supply and demand imbalance. Wendy Evans-Scott, President
of the NAEA said, “We were disappointed to see that the first time buyer holiday for Stamp Duty Land Tax is not being extended beyond March 2012. The Autumn Statement fails to provide much comfort to the property market. First time buyers are the lifeblood of the property market, and our recent data shows the number of first time buyers getting on to the housing ladder has reached a three-year low. With the stamp duty holiday disappearing from next March, the Government will need to do more to help the fragile first time buyer market.” The last word goes to Grant
Shapps, Minister of State for Housing and Planning. When asked whether he agreed
that the Housing Strategy did not go nearly far enough, he sighed, “For goodness’ sake! It’s one week on from the biggest housing strategy document that this or the previous government has launched. “You’d have to go back decades
to see anything bigger in housing. Probably to [Harold] Macmillan’s time.”
Do you have any views to share?
www.propertydrum.com/articles/strategy12
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