6 INDUSTRY NEWS
provided not only social, but environmental benefits. “Much of the current green belt is
brownfield or intensively farmed agricultural land with little in the way of ecological value, and often little in the way of public access provision. Carefully planned and controlled development in limited areas of the green belt could have changed this, by delivering or helping to fund environmental enhancement projects.” Knight Frank chief economist James Roberts however believed targeting urban areas rather than the green belt “makes sense,”and also prasied the focus on jobs in the Budget. He said: “The Chancellor’s Budget
speech has given the property industry lots to think about. The OBR’s forecast that 600,000 jobs will be created by 2022 suggests the property market has reason to feel confident about future demand; as a high level of employment is the bedrock beneath a strong real estate market. Nevertheless, the downwards revision of the GDP forecast is a concern, and will dampen business confidence at a time when there is already a lot of Brexit gloom circulating. “The boost for housebuilding and
abolishing stamp duty tax for some first time buyers had an element of political survival about it, but this will bring a lot of change to the market. Targeting urban areas, not the green belt, for future housebuilding makes sense, as people now want the short commuting times and 24/7 lifestyle that comes with living in a city. The Chancellor’s promise to speed up and improve the planning process will need to be delivered on if we are to see anything like 300,000 homes built each year.” Lewis Johnston, RICS parliamentary
and public affairs manager, said Hammond hadn’t delivered on expectations: “In the run-up to the Budget he suggested he would be leading a concerted Government effort to deliver 300,000 homes a year. While some industry concerns have been taken into account, overall the announce- ments don’t match up to that ambition. “The £44bn package of support is
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 2019/2020 instead of having an immediate impact, and the Chancellor stated that we would not be building the
THE PROPOSALS HE PUT FORWARD AMOUNT TO A SERIES OF MARGINAL AND DELAYED NUDGES AT A TIME WHEN HOUSING NEEDS AN ALMIGHTY, IMMEDIATE SHOVE
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300,000 new homes a year until the mid 2020s, leaving the country to wait at least eight years.” He added: “Whilst the Chancellor is right to say there is ‘no single magic bullet’ to increase housing supply, it requires a lot more than the proposals he has put forward, which amount to a series of marginal and delayed nudges at a time when housing supply needs an almighty, immediate shove. “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.” Johnston added a positive note however,
saying: “We are pleased the Government has acted on our recommendation to lift the local authority borrowing cap for housebuilding, and we hope this will herald a new era of well built, affordable council homes delivered at some scale. He added: “If the Chancellor really
wants to increase supply to a degree that will transform UK housing, he should implement a comprehensive housebuilding programme incorporating direct commissioning by central and local government. There should also be a more fundamental review of the planning system than was announced today, including a policy of green belt swaps so that appropriate sites on the urban edge can be considered for housing supply.” Johnston concluded: “Last but not least,
we have had 14 Housing Ministers in the last 19 years but in future the UK’s housing must have a representative at Secretary of State level in the Cabinet to tackle what has become the country’s number one problem.”
20 per cent growth in new homes revealed
There has been a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of new builds registered within the UK and Ireland in the 12 months to the end of September. Construction insurance specialist CRL reported the increase revealing it was across almost all sizes of build, from single units to medium-large builds (up to 50 apartments or houses), with the latter category increasing by 73 per cent compared to the previous 12 months. The sharp rise in new registrations is most pronounced in Scotland (125 per cent increase), in the East Midlands (66 per cent) and the East of England (62 per cent). The only notable regional drop was in the South West (4 per cent). Steve Mansour, CEO of CRL commented: “Our data shows that the construction industry is getting into gear and starting to tackle the housing crisis. If our statistics are indicative of a new trend, this is a major news story.”
New homes up 15 per cent
The number of new homes in England has risen by 15 per cent over the past year, according to Government figures. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid welcomed the news: “These latest figures are clear evidence that this Government is turning things around, with over 1.1m homes delivered since 2010. “Steps have been made in the right direction, but I want to see a giant leap, and hundreds of thousands more homes. We owe it to our future generations to fix this broken housing market.”
He also announced action against 15 local authorities that have failed to produce a local plan, setting out how and where they expect to meet their residents’ needs for new homes. Javid said: “While some councils are
recognising their responsibilities and stepping up to meet the housing challenge, too many are still not acting. That’s why I’m stepping in now to make sure they act.”
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